Math quiz:

Q: If a train traveling from Point A to Point B at 240 mph never gets built, how long will it take you to reach your destination?

A: 42 years and counting.

During the Commerce, Science and Transportation hearing the other day, Sen. Kerry mentioned Maglev as a high speed rail option that's being used in Japan and China, and he asked Sec. Peters why the administration has done nothing to advance similar technology here at home. Her answer, I believe, was "We are looking at it very hard."

Maglev and similar technologies are not just a solution to overcrowded highways, but would also address environmental issues, reduce our dependence on foreign oil and restore our standing as a technology leader. Because with respect to transportation technology, we're not even close. Oh, we can build it alright. We know how. We just can't seem to cut through all the red tape and get it implemented. As the Senator says, it's shameful.

I mentioned when I posted about the hearing the other day that, as a child, I recalled witnessing a prototype of a light rail system in my home town of Pittsburgh.

It's amazing what you can find on youtube.

The title says 1967, but I think it was actually 1965 when Skybus made its debut at South Park Fairgrounds, about a mile from my house. I was six. You can do the math, but it's not part of the quiz, and I'd really rather you didn't.

Although Skybus looks a bit like a bus on an elevated platform because of the rubber wheels, it was in fact a computerized rail system, and was completely automated and totally fascinating to a six year old. Heck, what driver-less flying bus wouldn't be? Remember, this was of the same era as the original "Jetsons", and once you got buses off the ground, robot maids and talking dogs couldn't be far behind. Sadly, the Skybus program was quickly scrapped, but not because of the technology. A similar rail system was implemented in Morgantown WV (home of WVU) and is still a huge success today. No, Skybus was grounded because of politics. And 42 years later, in the very same city, history appears to be repeating itself for the same short sighted reason.

Maglev's Pennsylvania Project was selected along with a similar proposal in Baltimore for a federal grant to serve as a pilot for urban transportation needs in 2001. No funds have been appropriated for the project since 2005. The train, and the project, is stalled.

So, stay on 'em, Senator. I don't think we can afford to be digging up another youtube video 36 years from now so we can remember what the prototype looked like. And we certainly can't take "we're looking at it very hard" for an answer.

Extra credit: When the price of oil hits $100 a barrel by the end of the year, how many people will it take to push your car to work?

UPDATE: Me at the time of Pittsburgh's last state of the art mass transit project. I think that's our milk box in the lower right corner.