Quote:
Originally Posted by BrianSac
I will not support this unless Sacramento is included in the first phase.
I will be damned if Fresno, the Central Valley, and Bay Area are connected to Southern Cal and Sacramento has to wait a decade or longer to be connected.
By 2010, Sacramento will have 2.3 million or more in its Metro area. Many people travel from Sacramento to Southern Cal.
Sacramento is the furthermost Metro from LA, and really the most in need of a connection to LA, simply because it is the furthest from LA.
Do it right the first time!
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I agree BrianSac, I won't vote for it till Sacramento is part of the first phase... which
we won't and neither will San Diego
By the time work begins and they are half way
done the cost of the project will have doubled if not more.
Bullet train route chosen
Board votes for S.F. to Anaheim, but key details remain iffy.
By E.J. Schultz of The Sacramento Bee
Thursday, May 24, 2007
If California builds a bullet train system -- and that's a big if -- the first segment would run from Anaheim to San Francisco with stops in Los Angeles and Fresno, but not in Sacramento or San Diego.
The High Speed Rail Authority approved the first phase Wednesday on a 5-2 vote, even as serious financing questions remain on the $40 billion-plus project.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to delay public financing until private investors step to the plate, but two Democratic-controlled budget subcommittees voted this week to make a significant commitment in taxpayer dollars next year.
The authority also is hoping for a big share of federal dollars. But no one knows how much Congress might be willing to spend.
As envisioned, the rail line would eventually run from San Diego to as far north as Sacramento, with trains reaching top speeds of more than 200 miles per hour. The authority voted to tackle the Anaheim-to-San Francisco line first, saying the route through the fast-growing San Joaquin Valley would produce the highest ridership and revenue.
The San Diego-to-Los Angeles line -- running through one of the most crowded corridors in the state -- was not included because of a difference of opinion on train technology.
The Southern California Association of Governments is pushing for trains that float on air using electromagnetic force, known as magnetic levitation trains. But the rail authority wants to use more traditional steel-wheeled trains.
"Let's get real and stop daydreaming -- this is a steel-wheel project," said authority board member Lynn Schenk.
But Schenk, once the chief of staff for former Gov. Gray Davis, voted no on the plan because she wanted the entire route included in the first phase.
"I can't vote for any plan or proposal that will leave San Diego in the high-speed rail dustbin of history," she said.
Also voting no was David Crane, a special adviser to the governor on jobs and economic growth who was recently appointed to the rail board.
Crane, who wields significant influence in the Schwarzenegger administration, said it was premature to approve the first phase before consulting with private interests and federal lawmakers, who will be asked to carry a big financial load.
"We're still living in this imaginary world that is so Sacramento-centric," he said.
But Curt Pringle, another recent Schwarzenegger appointee, said the project couldn't wait that long.
"You have to start," he said. "And you have to start by putting in the rail, putting in the service (and) building the public acceptance."
Pringle, the mayor of Anaheim and a former Assembly Republican leader, also clashed with Crane over a financing plan also approved by the board on Wednesday.
According to the plan -- approved without Crane's or Schenk's vote -- the first phase would cost $27.5 billion to $39.5 billion. The federal government and state would pay the most, up to $12.5 billion each, with private companies paying $7.5 billion, and local agencies chipping in up to $4 billion.
The plan assumes it is "unlikely" that private firms would contribute until the state spent money on preconstruction and engineering work.
Crane argued that it is unwise to spend tax dollars until the state at least secured some level of private commitment. Pringle countered that companies would not step up until the state started spending money.
The state has already spent more than $30 million on environmental reviews and route planning. The authority wants $103 million next year for engineering work and to begin buying land for track.
The authority will assuredly get less than that, but how much less depends on negotiations between Schwarzenegger and lawmakers.
Schwarzenegger's budget proposal includes only $5.19 million, and $3.5 million of that would come from the Orange County Transportation Authority for planning work in Southern California. He also wants to indefinitely delay the $9.95 billion rail bond slated for the 2008 ballot -- a move that lawmakers would have to approve.
An Assembly subcommittee on Wednesday approved $50 million for the authority for next year, $4.8 million more than a Senate committee has approved.
The authority is hoping to get significant funding from the next big federal transportation spending bill, but the legislation is not due until 2010. The authority voted Wednesday to ramp up federal lobbying efforts.
http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/191840.html
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