> the busiest domestic flight air might be LV<->LA, but that doesn't mean it's a significant amount of domestic traffic.
There's apparently 352 flights between the cities each week, I would say it's pretty significant.
> People are driving to Vegas from LA because it's cheaper than flying (...) I can't see why we would expect high speed rail in the US would be cheaper than flying
That's partly a political decision. Highways get lots of public funding, there's no reason rail shouldn't get funding too, if that's what's necessary to incentivize using it over flying. That's the direction Europe is going in (in addition to taxing air travel due to the negative externalities it's causing).
There's apparently 352 flights between the cities each week, I would say it's pretty significant.
> People are driving to Vegas from LA because it's cheaper than flying (...) I can't see why we would expect high speed rail in the US would be cheaper than flying
That's partly a political decision. Highways get lots of public funding, there's no reason rail shouldn't get funding too, if that's what's necessary to incentivize using it over flying. That's the direction Europe is going in (in addition to taxing air travel due to the negative externalities it's causing).