Posted on 01/07/2015 10:35:00 PM PST by Brad from Tennessee
Illegals could move between cities on trains... but it's not highly likely either. A long commute requires a valuable job in one place and a valuable home in another. Otherwise people work where they live, or the other way around. Some illegals work in fields - but they are tens of miles away from cities, and you need a vehicle to get there, not a high speed train. I often see many cars of farm workers lining service roads; many of them arrive and leave fully packed.
In other words, I cannot imagine why would anyone want to leave the airport with all their luggage and go in search of a train. It's much easier to pay about the same money for a connecting flight and, without ever touching your luggage, slowly walk to the gate, working on a slice of pizza or checking email on your phone. There is absolutely no reason to go to the train station (which takes time,) wait for the train (which takes time,) and then remain on the train as it takes you on a roundabout way through the state. In the end you will arrive at another train station, somewhere. Then you'll have to gather up your luggage again and figure out how to get to the destination.
Would the last sane person leaving The Peoples Republic of Kalifornia, please turn out the lights? Thank you.
Yeah, those chumps try to compare Europe to America. What they can't seem to get into their empty heads, is that western Europe will fit into the continental US, probably about 3 times. What idiots.
Actually, it was the Roman solution a couple thousand years ago. The Romans were onto something. It civilized peoples throughout Europe. Would you rather we live in huts with dirt floors and stumble around dirt paths to get from point A to point B? Sheesh! You can hate liberalism and how they interfere with progress, but don't confuse efficiency and modernization with the need for progress (which isn't building an expensive train to nowhere).
“Progress”? Yes, that was the buzzword when government started taking over infrastructure during the progressive era. Before that, California was actually known for having an expansive system of privately-owned toll roads, IIRC.
Rome copied public funding of roads from the Persians, apparently.
And remember that the Roman Empire as it was is no longer with us. The roads that the legions used were also used against them by their enemies, and the expense of maintaining all the viæ publicæ on the public denarius caught up with them.
HSR is one of the all time dumbest projects. There is no pent up demand for rail transport between SF and LA. Both those cities need massive internal infrastructure improvements, not a bigger connection between them.
Currently, the state has only $12.6 billion—from federal funding and a voter-approved bond measure—ready for the project.
I believe the federal funding is the money that Scott Walker turned down for the same type of stupid project between Milwaukee and MADistan in Wisconsin. If the project had been completed here it was estimated that in order for the high(way) speed train to be self sustaining, the cost of a one-way ticket would have to be something north of $200. Former Governor Doyle was proposing a Regional Transit Authority be established with tax levying powers to subsidize the thing's operation. I would have been forced to pay higher property taxes, higher gas taxes, higher inhaling/exhaling taxes to help pay for a choo-choo train that I have absolutely no use for.
Thank you Governor Walker!!!
Instead, make a real HOV (High Occupancy Vehicle) lane:
1) Separate it from the rest of the lanes using Jersey Barriers.
2) Have the FAA certify the bus drivers to the same standards as Commercial Pilots.
3) Run buses designed for high speed.
4) Make them powered by turbo-diesel hybrids (or fuel cells) with a big enough battery pack for electric power in built up areas.
5) Start them at 90mph and raise it 10mph every 2 years until a committee (yes, I did use that foul word) of Engineers, Bus Drivers and Passengers says "Whoa, that's fast enough!"
Isn’t that $68 billion figure several years old? I seem to recall a number in the high ninety billion range from reports three or so years back.
It’s about paying off the unions for electing Democrats. It’s the Chicago way.
Not so much to the unions. This is more for the design and engineering firms that will make a fortune in billable hours designing something that will never be built.
A small earthquake. A small buckle in the tracks. Kaboom!
Yeah, California, the perfect location for HSR.
Megabus is a lot cheaper than $154.12...maybe around holidays it’s more...looks like 8 hours each way.
Greyhound looks like 10 hours each way, but as much as 12..refundable fare looks like $154.12.
Amtrak looks to be about 10 hours each way, and part of the trip is by bus.
It started at $ 99 billion until the vested interests tamped it down to $ 68 billion after public outcry.
There have been a lot of numbers tossed around over the years. As I recall, the original claim was $33B when the bond measure was passed.
Several years later, that was jacked up to $68B with a 10-15 year completion delay. After that, an independent review bumped the guesstimate to $95B+ with yet another 10 or so years of delay.
Anyone’s guess is as good as anyone else’s what the final cost will be and when (actually if) it will ever be completed.
This boondoggle will be hundreds of times more damaging to the environment than the Keystone pipeline, yet the feds and Obama are fine with them building it.
Based on the cost and the fare, it would take 441,558,442 passengers just to pay for the construction cost. How many people actually travel between LA and San Francisco in a year?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.