It would have been better to focus on inner city mass transit like subways, commuter rail, and light rail instead of an intercity train. I don't think high speed rail is going to do much to densify the inner cities. Most congestion in the cities are due to commuters and people who live in the city, not travellers from out of town.
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The mitigating goal of HSR in California is not to "densify" inner cities or alleviate intra-city congestion, it is to provide fast intercity travel that will alleviate highway and airport expansion requirements and create economic stimulation through sustainable connectivity to California's population centers and to bring us into the goddamn 21st CENTURY!
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Seriously! Third world countries have HSR now!
Here locally, there were many naysayers with the SMART train. We built it, it’s a success, and now all the naysayers have completely disappeared! (And now we are expanding it!) |
I went to CA. I traveled all the Californian coast from SF to LA. Some of their highways are super wide. Especially when you drive by LA. The widest I've seen in my life. I even forget the number of lanes...
It clearly doesn't work as a standalone solution. You still get stuck in traffic over there, no matter how huge their highways are. Over here, we've been advertising competition between any transit means. Cars, buses, trams, trains, planes... We've been leaving ideology behind and just would pick the most efficient. I think that will work for us all. I think what BrownTown has basically complaining about is the cost of the workforce in the US. Well, I wish the French workers had the same purchasing power as the American ones. Our unions here have done a poor job in defending workers' interests. They've been too busy at politics and ideology, serving their so-called leftist ideals and forgetting about purchasing power on the ground. That's silly, ineffective. Now many workers are pissed and vote for the retarded far right in this country. It seems to me we could find some very great system by mixing some Fr and US principles. More competition, and higher purchasing power. |
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There are myriad interim solutions to complement IOS services (ie. Bakersfield-Madera using the San Joaquin at the N and S ends of the system to reach Stockton/Oakland and LA, for one example). There is a State Rail plan in process, as well as significant improvements to the major regional railways (ie. Caltrain, Metrolink) that again allow some piggybacking. Essentially, the Authority has enough cash on hand to build the IOS and to -- potentially, although most indications are that they should be able to -- get to San Jose. In the meantime, they can actually begin generating revenue (and profit) and tapping into that to access financing to continue construction and expansion. This is virtually the method by which all of these types of networks are rolled out -- whether by private financing or public funding. Somehow, when All Aboard does it, it's some miraculous thing. When CAHSRA does it, it's foolish :whistle: |
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The 5 freeway just south of downtown is only 3 lanes in each direction, that it until a massive project finished up. It is a huge bottleneck and soon that'll finally be upgraded to today's standards. The cost to build a freeway in L.A. increased 6 times from 1960 to 1980. http://www.trbimg.com/img-54504196/t...y-freeways/720 L.A. Times graphic |
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2. Even if it did generate a profit that meager earnings would take decades or more to raise enough money to even think about building the most expensive parts of the system. 3. No, other countries don't ave 50+ year plans for building a single rail line; they just build it. If CAHSR were in China it would have been operating end to end for years at this point. Quote:
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The Central Valley has roughly the same population as the 15th biggest of our 50 United States. |
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Rail and transit projects always get 100x more scrutiny than highway and airport projects. |
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I have zero issue with the Feds giving money out fairly for cities to expand their transit systems. I've made this point endlessly but the HSR in California will not be a commuter train to relieve housing pressure in SF. It wont be used by anyone but the better-off. And they will use it just as a substitute to flying. |
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California got a ton of money for HSR out of that so-called "stimulus package", including rail money that was allocated to Wisconsin and my home state of Ohio. When Kasich (and fellow tea partier Scott Walker) was elected in 2010 he rejected that Obama stumulus money for a new rail service in Ohio and the FRA re-allocated most of the returned $400 million to California. |
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And since you love airplanes so much, you will be happy to hear that CAHSR will serve SFO. So people in Fresno, Bakersfield, etc., will be able to take a 60-minute train ride to SFO and they fly away to Japan or Australia or wherever instead of having to drive there. It'll take an hour to get to LAX from LA Union Station on light rail, but at least that will become an option for the first time. |
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2. No...even by their most conservative ridership estimates, they can fully finance the rest of the system, because any credit they attempt to access will be based on the potential future ridership, not current. Or are you really saying that the Authority wouldn't be able to demonstrate the gains from completing the system to LA? 3. It isn't 50 years. It's been under construction for 3-4 years at this point... Timelines are fungible; they depend on financing schedules and public funding. China took more than 30-40 years to complete the Beijing-Shanghai line: They just planned and phased the entire national network in bits and pieces to complete these national lines. None of the major N-S, E-W corridors were completed in anything like 5 years. Quote:
You're saying that a statewide, inter-city system will only be used by...rich people? As opposed to, what, the bulk of business travelers currently shuttling between LAX/SFO? Caltrain? Private/corporate bus shuttles? Quote:
Nothing indicates fares being anywhere near $1500. |
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