California will spend $20 Billion it doesn't have to chase a $2.2 Billion grant. They will spend more in interest than they will gain from the Uncle Sugar.
And, at the end of the day, they will have nothing. People will still take the plane or drive. It just doesn't make sense to build a train from SF to LA. The numbers just don't work.
Californians vote for this because they like the aesthetics of high speed rail. They feel better about themselves knowing that there are fast trains (World Class!) whizzing about, even if nobody ever gets on a train. This could better be thought of as a giant public art project, rather than transportation.
Exactly. Every other state looked at the math, said “thanks but no thanks” and decided their own dollars could be put to better use.
The fact of the matter this project is not financially self-supporting. I have to hear a single person in California say they need a bullet train. It makes no sense when you can fly from Los Angeles to San Francisco for far cheaper and in under an hour.
It’s all about population density and distance.
To put it in perspective, Tokyo-Osaka (which is profitable), services 3x the number of people over half the distance.
Even the Boston - Washington corridor is only 50 percent as efficient as Tokyo-Osaka and that assumes ridership numbers equal to Japan.
That might be the most accurate description of the project I have ever read. :)