Will High Speed Rail Turn The Central Valley Into A Bay Area Bedroom Community? (San Jose: fit in, transporting)

[mrsltd]

Originally Posted by Perma Bear

There's a reason passenger rail died in the 1950s but hey I guess we didn't learn our lesson.

Yeah; the rubber and auto companies bought up the track lines (at least in the LA metro) and shut them down so that more people would drive and/or ride buses.

[neutrino78x]

Originally Posted by mrsltd

Yeah; the rubber and auto companies bought up the track lines (at least in the LA metro) and shut them down so that more people would drive and/or ride buses.

That's in LA, but I think he meant nationally. Nationally, passenger trains died because they were replaced by airplanes. Much higher speed, much greater maneuverability, and more competition.

[Perma Bear]

Originally Posted by mrsltd

Yeah; the rubber and auto companies bought up the track lines (at least in the LA metro) and shut them down so that more people would drive and/or ride buses.

Did it happen in a smoky back room with Harry James and Glenn Miller in the background conspiracy theorist?

[pvande55]

Here is an example of what happens when higher speed rail comes: Can you really commute to London from Bristol or Wales? | Daily Mail Online. Although Los Banos, "the baths," will not get a station, no doubt some of its residents would drive to the nearest one. But the elements are there: more attainable housing, the means to commute to employment centers where housing is grossly overpriced.

[neutrino78x]

Originally Posted by pvande55

Here is an example of what happens when higher speed rail comes: Can you really commute to London from Bristol or Wales? | Daily Mail Online. Although Los Banos, "the baths," will not get a station, no doubt some of its residents would drive to the nearest one. But the elements are there: more attainable housing, the means to commute to employment centers where housing is grossly overpriced.

Well, the other thing about British trains, though, is that they are not public transit. The UK re-privatized their rail service; they sold the rights to run passenger trains back to private companies. For example, Richard Branson's company, Virgin, runs some of the trains. So this is private investment.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privat...f_British_Rail

Rail Privatisation in UK | Economics Help

Like I said, I thought HSR was a good idea in theory, I just didn't think the state would implement it well, and it seemed too expensive, so I voted no. Plus if you're going to invest in laying down new tracks -- as opposed to upgrading existing ones -- you probably should go with maglev, so you get a lot more speed out of it. I would have built an elevated maglev train all the way down the median of I-5. Have some kind of connecting point for the Bay Area and other places that are not along I-5 where you get off the train, walk underground or across a pedestrian bridge and meet another train that takes you into the local public transit system.

It is also good for people who think Silicon Valley and SF are too expensive to look at that article where they say London is also too expensive. That's what happens when you have a desirable area that's densely populated...the home prices go up.

[Dave Coe]

Originally Posted by bmw335xi

It depends how much they charge per ticket and how often the trains run. My guess is the price will be too expensive for most commuters.

Even if it's over $100 a ticket that would still be a discount on housing moving from the Silicon Valley to Fresno or Merced. Also they might offer Annual Passes.

[pvande55]

Originally Posted by Dave Coe

Even if it's over $100 a ticket that would still be a discount on housing moving from the Silicon Valley to Fresno or Merced. Also they might offer Annual Passes.

Many system charge more than twice that for much shorter distance. And under some conditions can be a pretax benefit. Don't know about annual passes. A bigger risk if you lose it.

[Bill the Butcher]

Scratch Fresno. It's not close enough to the I-5. Substitute in Bakersfield.

[Dave Coe]

Will High Speed Rail Turn The Central Valley Into A Bay Area Bedroom Community? | Valley Public Radio

[shooting4life]

It sure would be a lot cheaper to offer incentives to businesses to develope outside traditional areas than building a ridiculous train across the state that costs 20+ billion dollars and might be completed 30+ years from now and then run at a substantial budget deficit soaking up billions more tax dollars. But that would just make too much sense.