Bullet Rail (San Diego, Temecula, Empire: how much, employment, bankrupt)

[jksouthbay88]

mini_cute has brought up the ongoing talk about the CA Bullet Rail in the "UTC Future" thread and was just now wondering,would you vote to pass that proposition and would you use it?Too me it seems like a bunch of bells and whistles and might be a waste of money.Just want to hear your thoughts on this one.

[sav858]

I am voting for it b/c CA will need it and kind of does already. There is a lot of intrastate travel in CA and our roads and airports are already congested enough. Try driving down I-5 in the middle of nowhere then get stuck in a 30 miles long bumper to bumper traffic jam with nothing but farms and cows all around you. No accidents or anything, just too many damn cars.

Also think about the direction we have been heading with gas prices. Does it really make any sense to rely almost completely on two modes of transportation that are at the mercy of volatile oil prices? Just look at what the airlines have done this year in addition to all the bankruptcies; fees for this, fees for that, 500% mark up in airfare, etc.... We need ALTERNATIVES, especially ones not dependent on oil and it's wild price fluctuations.

People may say "but I'll never see it built or use it" and that is a selfish mentality. Think about future generations or think about what if they had started this 20 years ago and we had it today. Wouldn't it be nice to have something like this now?? Better late than never IMO.

Just look at how much congestion there is now, what do you think it will be like with 45-50 million Californians? We've already reached the limit on freeway expansion in some areas and can only expand them so much, which never solves congestion BTW. Just look at how difficult and expensive it is to build new airports or expand existing ones. Look at how crowded our skies already are the how many near misses between planes occur every year.

Why keep doing the same things that cause us to be completely reliant on automobiles, airplanes, and rising fuel prices??

Transportation projects take a minimum of 20 years to get built so we need to think at least that far down the road and this is what Prop1A is doing. We are voting today for a better CA tomorrow with this.

[esmith143]

I'll vote for it on the off chance that it actually gets built and ends up as useful as they say. But I am pessimistic.

They are going about building this thing in a counterintuitive way. Instead of building the high-speed rail where it could be actually useful (between San Diego, Inland Empire, and LA), they are going to spend something like $30 billion laying rail in Central Valley, and then hope to use hypothetical revenues to continue the rail to Inland Empire and San Diego along I-15. We would likely end up with a very expensive white elephant that draws some passengers away from LA-SF commuter airlines (but not enough to be profitable), hopelessly increasing gridlock in LA-SD metro, and no money left.

I've seen two projections, the optimistic one is to finish phase 1 (LA-SF) by 2016 and extend to SD by 2019, and the pessimistic one is to start LA-SF service in 2020 and extend to SD 5-10 years later.

America is not what it used to be. It's gotten fat and lazy. Teenagers shun any kind of manual labor, dream about liberal arts degrees and pencil-pushing management jobs. The days of Eisenhower and Kennedy, when the country could come together and build 40 thousand miles of freeways in less time and for less money than this high-speed rail system is going to take, are long gone.

[LoneStarJerry]

Originally Posted by esmith143

America is not what it used to be. It's gotten fat and lazy. Teenagers shun any kind of manual labor, dream about liberal arts degrees and pencil-pushing management jobs. The days of Eisenhower and Kennedy, when the country could come together and build 40 thousand miles of freeways in less time and for less money than this high-speed rail system is going to take, are long gone.

Can't disagree here.

[Suzer]

I think it is a practical choice to route high speed rail through the Central Valley. The region is far more affordable, and would give much greater access to employment centers.

[f_m]

Originally Posted by Suzer

I think it is a practical choice to route high speed rail through the Central Valley. The region is far more affordable, and would give much greater access to employment centers.

Not sure how they plan to do the schedule (as far as commuting goes), but it would definitely be useful to people living in the Temecula region. It would definitely grow there if mass transportation was suitable.

The other things it would do are reduce fuel use since airplanes are using fuel, but the trains are electric. Also, more jobs for the next few years over a wide geographic region, which is one of the problems right now, few jobs in construction.

Whether it will be worth it is hard to say, but it would allow more people to live in affordable places like Temecula, or outside other metro areas, then it could get fair usage (depending on the way it is scheduled).

[mini_cute]

A lot of you made good points. Rep points all around please.

Anyway, I already voted Yes on Prop 1A. Even if I don't get to see the high speed bullet train built and operating in my lifetime, it will be good to know that it will be there for my children and future generations. We need to start now, to affect the future.

[sdurbanite]

I voted "Yes" on this proposition for all of the reasons already mentioned above. Nice job everyone!

[NYSD1995]

I am voting yes, but don't believe the state can afford it, or that it should be considered a state priority along with schools or fire or police.

[ubringliten]

I am voting yes too. The SD airport definitely sucks and with a bullet train going to LA would be great for travelers.

This is the future, and it's time to change the way we travel. I love California, and I would like to see Norcal and Socal connected more. I like going up there for culture, greens, families and friends, and snowboarding. If it doesn't happen in my lifetime, but if indeed happened, I think it will make California great!