[mastercheif]

Agreed. Poor intra-city transit and lack of mixed use density in our city cores is what makes HSR unfeasible.

I recently traveled to Germany on business, traveled from Berlin to Munich via the ICE inter-city train.

Arrived in downtown Munich, hotel was 7.3 miles driving from the station. I jumped on the u-bahn made a quick transfer at Odeonsplatz and arrived at the hotel in 30 mins–including a 10 minute walk from the train station.

Door to door from Berlin to the hotel in Munich was 5 hours. If one were to drive my trip door to door, maps says 361mi/580km traveled if driving direct with a drive time of 5.5 hours.

For comparisons sake, let's take a hypothetical trip from Dallas Union Station to Apple's headquarters in Austin, TX, which is located 14.7mi/24.6km from the Austin train station.

According to Apple Maps, using public transit would take 9 hours. Driving direct from Dallas Union Station to Apple HQ in Austin is 187mi/300km in total with a drive time of 3 hours.