The feds have, I think since the 50s, discouraged new public rail
Whenever talk about US infrastructure comes up, this is an important point to bear in mind. The current road-centric infrastructure was created over the course of decades as a very deliberate political project - trolleys were torn up, dense neighborhoods were paved over, working class people were pushed out of the cities into suburban developments, etc. To transition back will take an equally dedicated political project and a similarly long amount of time.
Whenever talk about US infrastructure comes up, this is an important point to bear in mind. The current road-centric infrastructure was created over the course of decades as a very deliberate political project - trolleys were torn up, dense neighborhoods were paved over, working class people were pushed out of the cities into suburban developments, etc. To transition back will take an equally dedicated political project and a similarly long amount of time.
That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do it, of course.