Why when you can do it on I-5 for cheaper and probably for not much less time. Besides, who is a hurry to get to Merced from Bakersfield or to Bakersfield from Merced?
Gavin Newsome?
AOC?
In the age of electric cars with auto-pilot features that can take passengers on point to point journeys, who needs a fixed track rail from smallville to tinytown? The entire project is obsolete.