Completing a big project changed my life- it taught me so much about my field, showed employers evidence that I was capable, and gave me confidence. Granted, it took a lot of half-completed projects to get me there.
Trains are more energy-efficient than buses, have lower operating costs (especially if electric), more comfortable.
In terms of light rail vs bus however
>easy rerouting to more busy lines
... you can just increase frequency
>not blocked if one in front breaks down
This is a risk, but generally the idea is to do enough preventative maintenance so that this doesn't happen and to have sufficient crossover switches to work around this
>Resale to other bus lines
It's best to just use your vehicles until EOL, Toronto used their last generation LRVs for decades- far longer than a bus would last.
>Less upfront cost
That's REALLY not a benefit. This is why American infrastructure is failing: a failure to consider maintenance cost or have any long-term thinking.
The bus can not really get more comfortable. Drive on a smooth road and have a great suspension system: it'll still be less comfortable than a smooth ride on a train.
This whole "one mode to rule them all" attitude- common in American news media- is toxic. Cars, trains, buses, planes, and more all have their place.
Trains have improved dramatically, but Americans haven't been paying attention and haven't changed anything about them in 100 years (in fact, they reverted by removing formerly electrified lines).
Trains are a proven technology- highly energy-efficient and more pleasant to ride than a car or a bus.
Rail in the U.S. is the best freight rail system in the world. Europe boasts a great passenger network but fares poorly when it comes to freight.
For America to be great in both sectors, busy corridors should be dedicated to one use or the other (e.g. Northeast corridor, California, etc.). Success in having highly efficient freight systems and highly efficient passenger systems are pretty much orthogonal.
I’ve never used periscope but a few years ago I was at a comedy festival. There was this guy in the audience who was being obnoxious, and when Jeff Ross confronted him, the audience member said he was streaming the show on Periscope. He eventually got booed out of the hall.
I always use the left-hand side bar. Switching between different languages (and being able to see which languages each article is written in) is important for multilinguals. And the “random” button is great.
Take care of the education of your poorest citizens, stop orchestrating coups, stop imprisoning black men en masse, give people single-payer healthcare. Then we can talk about moral high ground.