[jtown,man]

Originally Posted by LAsam

Sacramento to Bakersfield is better, but I still don't see a ton of demand for that route. I get that they are building the least expensive portion first... but I fear that people will look at it as a "proof of concept". This segment will not be successful, and could further jeopardize the remainder of the project.

In my opinion, the most valuable piece of the entire HSR project, for the California economy as a whole, is the connection of SF to Sac via HSR. SF is unsustainable right now from a housing perspective, and this would open up a huge area of sleeper communities... not to mention the boost it could provide Sac. The SF economy is huge to California, and the housing is more dire than Southern California. Make SF to Sac the proof of concept, then start expanding the network out.

Haven't we gone over this already? The idea of this being used as a commuter train is very slim. VERY slim.