The term is also kind of nonsensical since it comes from the British sitcom "Yes, Minister" episode "The Bed of Nails"(S3E5). On the other hand, the US has pretty much put its transportation into cars and highways along with air. Rail transportation is of the third world calibre I would expect for the world's most affluent third world nation.
Which is disappointing since the US was once a leader in rail transportation.
I tossed in canals for good measure since I like canals: the old fashioned jobbies with longboats and towpaths. You can bike or hike beside them, or take a small craft for a leisurely jaunt around the countryside. Which are yet another thing that has been trashed in the US.
But the reason for this is that I heard that a section of I-95 in Philadelphia has collapsed which is a major transportation fuck up. And appropriate that it happened in the city that doesn't work. Philadelphia is a totally messed up city with a road system which was designed for horse drawn vehicles trying to deal with 21 century traffic. It has the subway to nowhere and destroyed its tramways. This means that a good section of the US east coast has been fucked by failing to have alternative forms of transportation which are actually viable for commuters.
Remember that air traffic on the east coast was buggered for several days due to the Canadian wild fires. So, air traffic is also not the answer.
This means that the two main forms of transportation in the US, highways and air traffic, really don't do the job. And rail is pathetic where it exists. Sure, the above video is in French, but the point is that the French have kept their rail transport viable and up to date. They are even proposing to stop internal flights of 500km or less in favour of air travel.
I would hate to have to rely on US rail transport to address the traffic on the east coast at this point.
Additionally, the US is going to have to make the road users pay for the proper maintenance of the roads which is going to truly bugger that method of transport, because the US can't run its current level of traffic on dirt roads and goat paths. And the problems with infrastructure are getting painfully obvious.
The real bottom line is that the US has been dodging issues using hot button issues ("culture wars") and not addressing the real problems of society: like health care, transportation, energy, the environment, and so on.
It ain't the Russians who make me want to see a change in the US political system. It's the homegrown oligarchs.
