>>1958652>Picking a random non-holiday, I see 14 nonstops from Chicago to Cleveland.I made this point in the other thread, but this is misleading because many of those are part of a larger trip with connecting flights. People going to Atlanta from Orlando have ultimate destinations all over the country. The fact that Atlanta is a sprawling metro with poor public transit doesn't matter to people only passing through the airport.
The issue is with short-range trips is connecting A to B. If you're in Lafayette, IN and want to get to Mansfield, OH, you can drive directly there on your own schedule in about 4 hours. Or you can take a 18 hour bus trip via Indianapolis, Dayton and Columbus. (Or one via Chicago) And you're still needing to arrange last mile transit to whatever your actual destination in or around Mansfield.
So HSR would obviously reduce that 18 hours to something more reasonable. But how reasonable? After accounting for hubs and layovers and last mile arrangements you're unlikely to beat the simplicity of a 4 hour drive on your own schedule and as much luggage as you can fit into your car.
