Let's don't forget the real problem.
As you point out, Europe is not the land mass the United States is. However, let us not forget that Europeans enjoy the "time off" that only our most elite corporate moguls can manage here. That we need rapid transit is an effect of a larger problem. If the Peeple were afforded the comparatively luxurious vacation time, family leave time, time off for new babies, etc. that are common in Europe, I doubt that anything faster than steam locomotives would be necessary here - Americans could enjoy leasurely travel if they only had the time to do so.
This is a much tougher nut to crack. We pass the Family Leave Act. Wonderful, you can take 12 weeks off if your family suffers a blow, but expect a 25% cut in your annual income if you do that (which, by defintion, will come at among the worst possible times). Not much of a choice.
As long as we all live for the betterment of the McWorld, things will not much improve. Not until Muricans begin to see themselves as human beings instead of Corporate "resources" (resource: that material to be consumed), many things, including commercial air travel, will remain fouled beyond hope of repair.
