[Bruff]

Quick, simple question. You're somewhere in LA. You want to go to Vegas to say, the Red Rock Resort in the west end. You have two ways to get there.

Door A is a supposedly high-speed train (OK, XpressWest) that runs from a station in Palmdale (or Victorville) to a station in Las Vegas. You have to get to the station in PDale/V-ville via Metrolink (and a cab-ride) and from the station in Vegas to your resort, which means a lot of lugging, parking, walking, seating, waiting, and putting up with people you don't want to. The time, not the 80 minutes advertised by the losing applicant, XpressWest, but more likely in the 6-hour range. The roundtrip cost to your party of 3 (according to LVCC average party size is 2.5), around $500. And btw, as seen on the news a few days ago, where the French train derailed and ended up in a river (killing 11 people), the only thing holding this train's wheelie side down is gravity and luck.

Door B (proposed by one of the applicants) is via a concept called 'Dual-mode', which consists of a conventional car - preferably hybrid - with a minor mod that adds a rail 'flange' (the wheel thingy trains ride on) to each existing wheel. Voila, you now have a car that runs on conventional roads, but can also a car that runs on rail-roads. In this case, the rail-road (called a guideway) is elevated just above the freeway (or floodway). This guideway would be lightweight (you don't have to carry a 385 tons choo-choo train - just a one-or two ton car or light truck) and cheap), cost about $1,000 more than the standard car itself. On the guideway way, Door B is automated, runs at 200 mph, btw, and is derail-proof (uses the same grip-means as a roller coaster). Door B is also door-to-door (DtD) and is either something you could outright own or rent from Avis, etc.
The time for Door B's trip - which, recall, is door-to-door, no strangers, ultra safe: two hours. The cost (for all 3 pax): less than $50 (and in some cases, free).

Which door do you chose?

[von949]

San Diego would be better. I would be on it every other weekend.

[ScoopLV]

Originally Posted by Bruff

Which door do you chose?

Neither.

I choose the "Do it right the first time or don't bother. Because otherwise the whole system is going to be an enormous waste of taxpayer money" door.

I'm all in favor of a high speed rail system. But the only way I'm in favor of actually building the project is to connect at least two popular destinations at a time. As usual, the current proposal is like that ferris wheel next to Mandalay Bay -- half-baked, inadequately-funded, incompetently-managed, and a zero percent probability of success. Why bother?

[BBMW]

If someone has $8 billion lying around to throw at a largely doomed train line from Victorville to Vegas, just widen the 15, and add toll express lanes. That would be more likely to get built, and might actually make money.

[jjameson922]

Apparently someone does have $8 billion lying around and many must not read the paper or watch the news, because a high speed rail was just decided on. So....the question remains, there were two choices; which of the two options they had to choose from above makes more sense to you?

[NLVgal]

Originally Posted by jjameson922

Apparently someone does have $8 billion lying around and many must not read the paper or watch the news, because a high speed rail was just decided on. So....the question remains, there were two choices; which of the two options they had to choose from above makes more sense to you?

Which one is Sig Rogich involved in? That's who the contract has or will go to.

It will probably end up as useful and effective as the monorail that doesn't go to the airport or down the strip, but those of us who have been here long enough know how these things work.

[jjameson922]

I think we've been here long enough too, to see how these things work. But then again, there are those who never listen to the news, read the paper or get involved in things so they could live here forever without knowing. And if truth be known, they wouldn't care if they did learn.

Will have to do some research on Sig Rogich because that's not a name that I've heard associated with anything.

[Jukesgrrl]

Why stop? Put Phoenix in there. LA to Vegas to Phoenix. Such a train would join the second and sixth largest metros in the entire country with a stop at everyone's favorite recreational facility in the middle. Then you wouldn't just be catering to vacationers, weekenders, and gamblers. Win/Win/Win.

And why is everyone so worried about the LA terminus? No matter where they put it, it won't please everyone. LA is spread over a huge area, as Phoenix is, too. I'm sure there will be local transportation to meet every train and take people right to their specific destination. Buses to popular stops, or cabs and Uber cars to transport train riders right to the door of their home, hotel, office, entertainment venue, etc. Surely the car rental companies will also set up shop.

[demoknite]

Im not sure why people want the rail system to have no government oversight and turn a profit. We have no problem with with our roads being government subsidized and ran by numerous Departments of Transportation. We have no problem with the airways being government subsidized and ran by the FAA. But throw rail in there and people get up in arms and insist that there be no government intervention.

[logline]

Originally Posted by demoknite

Im not sure why people want the rail system to have no government oversight and turn a profit. We have no problem with with our roads being government subsidized and ran by numerous Departments of Transportation. We have no problem with the airways being government subsidized and ran by the FAA. But throw rail in there and people get up in arms and insist that there be no government intervention.

Slam. Dunk.