Posted on 05/25/2007 9:54:37 AM PDT by BenLurkin
With an exploding population and aging and inadequate infrastructure, California faces questions of how best to meet its transportation needs for its long-term economic survival.
To accomplish this, multiple modes of transportation - not only highways, but also rail and air - must be considered in the long-term, Ken Secor told members of the Mojave Chamber of Commerce on Thursday afternoon.
One option under consideration for the movement of people is a high-speed rail system linking the state's major population centers in Los Angeles and San Francisco through the burgeoning Central Valley.
The California High-Speed Rail Authority has proposed a 700-mile system using electric trains traveling as fast as 200 mph or more to whisk travelers from Los Angeles to San Francisco in 2½ hours.
The proposed route would include stops in Palmdale, Bakersfield and Fresno as well as segments into Orange County, San Diego and Sacramento.
Between Palmdale and Bakersfield, the proposed route would run through new tunnels in the Tehachapi Mountains.
Animation shown by Secor of the proposed train running through the wind farms in the hills west of Mojave drew cheers from those assembled.
The system proposed for California is the type of steel wheel on steel rail technology in routine use in those countries, not the more exotic magnetic levitation - also known as maglev - technology that is in use in Japan as a demonstration project and in other areas, Secor said.
Chief among the obstacles to the high-speed rail plan is the high cost of initial construction, now estimated at $40 billion.
Then there is the issue of ridership.
"California's population is resistant to mass transit," Secor said. "Resistant is a mild term."
(Excerpt) Read more at avpress.com ...
What California really needs is more freeways.
What California really needs is fewer freeloaders.
Why not build a.......................MONORAIL?
Since the population is soon to peak if it has not done so already, I’d say continued failure to fix the worst roads in the US (we’ve got ‘em!) will only speed the exodus. California is the rust belt of the 21st century.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
When you take a train from A to B, you’re still stuck at B waiting an hour for an hour bus ride to get to your real destination. Then if you want to run any errands while you’re in the area, you get to wait for another bus, plus schlep your crap with you. Any surprise people are “resistant” to that?
The only people who really like “mass transit” are pointy-headed “urban planners” with government jobs (or academic positions with government contracts to do “studies” on mass transit).
Tell me where they are worse. Of the places I’ve been, Cali has the worst, over all.
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.