<p>My money is on the misheard number. Some higher-up said 16%, the person making the brochure heard 60%, and that’s how the number ended up on there.</p>
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<p>Well, I did that calculation in my OP using the top speed of the world’s fastest commercially operating train, the Shanghai MagLev, and I got to 30% of the U.S. population. </p>
<p>The world speed record for experimental trains is a bit higher, though: 361 mph. Two hours at that speed would get you 722 miles—enough to pull in the more populous parts of Michigan, most of Indiana and Kentucky, all of South Carolina, and maybe even Chicago and Atlanta if you laid the tracks perfectly straight (and how many trillions would that cost?) But I’m afraid it still doesn’t get you to 60% of the nation’s population. California, Texas, and Florida alone account for 81 million people, or a little under 30% of the nation’s population. Throw in the Pacific Northwest, the Southwest, the other Gulf Coast states, and a few more middling-sized states like CO, MN, WI, IA, MO, and you’ve easily got something close to half the nation’s population out of reach of even the fastest experimental train operating at top speed for 2 hours.</p>
<p>OK, so how fast WOULD a train need to travel to cover 60% of the US population in 2 hours? Just curious.</p>
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<p>Oh good grief! Really, the Northeast isn’t some special rarified place where a college education is valued unlike the rest of the country bumpkins that populate the nation. It IS a big deal because their brochures should be factually based, and that one doesn’t even have face validity. Bclintonk, I would contact them and let them know; then again, a local college put up a billboard with an obvious typo and I called that college to let them know, since I’m snarky like that.</p>
<p>From the Philadelphia tourist site:</p>
<p>Philadelphia is the second largest city on the East Coast and ranks fifth in the nation, with a metropolitan population of 5.8 million. Philadelphia is conveniently located in the middle of the Northeast Corridor, 100 miles south of New York, 133 miles north of Washington, D.C., and 55 miles from Atlantic City. More than 63 million people – approximately a quarter of the U.S. population – live within a 5.5-hour drive from Philadelphia.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.visitphilly.com/getting-here/[/url]”>http://www.visitphilly.com/getting-here/</a></p>
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<p>From Philadelphia, it should be at least around 600 miles per hour. That would cover most of eastern half of the US. Most commercial airplanes would not even do that.</p>
<p>50% of bclintonk’s children attend college in the greater Philadelphia area. Maybe that’s what they meant.</p>
<p>■■■■ lololol how could they make a mistake like this!?!?? Epic fail lololol
upenn is such an embarrassment when it comes to brochure content
veritability!!! I have lost all my respect for upenn!!!</p>
<p>I’m so glad there are great people out there that take time out of their day to look at this issue. The world is now a much better place because this travesty has been uncovered!!!</p>
<p>All these train speed questions remind me of those horrible algebra problems where you have two trains traveling in opposite directions at varying rates of speed and you have to set up and solve 2 equations to figure something out - I just don’t recall solving one to determine that 60% of the US lives within 2 hours of Philly - but maybe I haven’t gotten to that chapter yet!</p>
<p>Rockvillemom, notice i am asking questions, not solving them! I hated those too! If they started throwing the variable types of trains at me I think my head would explode! LOL</p>
<p>bclintonk, surely the thread should be titled “U Penn’s gauche geographic gaffe”? Then when they recant, the press release could be titled “U Penn gainsays gigantic geography goof which generated grief”. </p>
<p>Anyway, double points for an alliterative Fermi Problem* post. :)</p>
<ul>
<li>[Fermi</a> problem - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_problem]Fermi”>Fermi problem - Wikipedia)</li>
</ul>
<p>“Philadelphia is centrally located between New York City and Washington D.C., and is within a day’s drive or train trip of more than 40 percent of the U.S. population (hour by Amtrak from New York City and one hour 45 minutes from Washington D.C).”</p>
<p>[Philadelphia</a> for Business - PhiladelphiaUSA.travel](<a href=“Philadelphia USA - Noticias de actualidad”>Philadelphia USA - Noticias de actualidad)</p>
<p>hmmm…</p>
<p>“Southern New Jersey is ideally located within a two-hour drive from 60 percent of the U.S. population and enjoys immediate access to an unequaled transportation network in the very heart of the nation’s fourth largest market.”</p>
<p>[Welcome</a> to Southern New Jersey](<a href=“http://www.sunraydirect.com/SouthernNJ/index.htm]Welcome”>http://www.sunraydirect.com/SouthernNJ/index.htm)</p>
<p>More hmmm…</p>
<p>“Travel to Philadelphia:
60% of the U.S. Population is 2 hours away from Philadelphia.”</p>
<p>[MARC</a> Location/Directions/campus map](<a href=“http://www.aprahome.org/Events/MARC2010/MARCLocationDirectionscampusmap/tabid/973/Default.aspx]MARC”>http://www.aprahome.org/Events/MARC2010/MARCLocationDirectionscampusmap/tabid/973/Default.aspx)</p>
<p>If we substitute “plane” for “train” the offending statement is plausible.</p>
<p>I think that Deborah T discovered the source of the offending error…</p>
<p>So basically, people are idiots who think their regions are the most important.</p>
<p>That fits with what I know of humanity.</p>
<p>Good sleuthing, Deborah T.</p>
<p>Here’s the exact quote, by the way. (I had to wait for my D to get home to retrieve the brochure). It’s in a glossy 16-page blue brochure titled “If you are inspired to make an impact on the world . . . Penn.” On page 8, under the headline “Vital,” it reads:</p>
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<p>See? It’s all boastful stuff. Which is why I think they really meant it. They wouldn’t be boasting about being within a 2-hour train ride of 16% of the U.S. population because that’s not going to impress anyone.</p>
<p>A friend of mine who goes to UPenn told me of some type of promotional brochure/marketing spam mail that listed ‘Columbia’ as one of the countries UPenn’s students came from, so this doesn’t surprise me at all. Sounds like UPenn’s PR office needs to hire a geographer.</p>
<p>But there is a country named “Columbia” in South America.</p>