Wednesday, December 27, 2017

Once-great != Always great

We're used to be #1 in infrastructure, but now it is falling apart due to lack of maintenance.
 
Case #1: The recent derail. It is more a human error together with another derail in Boston area (due to texting by the engineer). A computerized system if installed would avoid the accident. It would lower the speed automatically. Do these engineers finish high school? If so, we have problem with our high schools. Did they check whether they're on drugs?
 
It is a 'higher' speed rail. The one I rode in China 2 months ago was traveling at 200 Km/hr (about 125 miles/hour) vs the exceeded speed at 85 miles/hour. In China, the rail is brand new and seldom with big curves. China is moving to even higher speed with the new series of train engine.
 
Case #2 Atlanta airport blackout. We need to ensure all airports would not have a single point of failure as in this case. In IT, our backup servers usually are located remotely.
 
Many bridges need serious repair. They do not give you a medal to maintain them. We're waiting for accidents to happen before we do anything. The tax cut is buying votes but where can we get money for infrastructure?
 
What happens to this once-great country?

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