Prime example would be the Rail Runner between Albuquerque and Santa Fe New Mexico. Loser!
C’mon. This is Kalifornia we are talking about here. Since when do they worry about money problem?
“At least we have a super cool High Speed Rail system, none of you mid-west redneckers have one. Na na na na na na”
I would double those estimates to err on the safe side.
“A big financial loser for taxpayers”..... But not for California Democrats!
Get all on board the love train, love train, love train!
The next stop that we’ll make will be the bank.
Tell all the folks we’re buying yachts, too!
If 1 cent was spent on this study it was a waste of money.
Here’s all that ever needs to be known about constructing a rail line; If it’s worth it, private enterprise will build it and run it at a profit. If government builds it, it will never make a profit and therefore is not worth the effort!
Jerry Brown Math: We’re losing $500 per passenger mile traveled, but we’ll make up for it in volume!
An “All Saints” line would make more sense.
San Diego to San Fransisco with stops in San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano, Santa Ana, Santa Monica, Santa Barbara, Santa Maria, San Luis Obispo, San Ardo, San Miguel, Santa Cruz, and San Jose, with the possibility of extending it to San Rafael and Santa Rosa...
Paid parking at light rail stations was tried, they lost $100,000 during the trial period. So they will probably expand it. Even though it loses money, its more about control.
http://www.pegasusnews.com/news/2013/apr/11/carrollton-city-council-delays-decision-dart-paid-/
This number can’t include capital cost amortization. At $100 billion (likely way more) and bonds have to pay 4%.
$4 billion per year for these costs alone. That’s a big nut.
And the product is inferior to a Southwest Airline flight that does the same thing.
Good union jobs at good union wages. That’s all that matters.
Collectivists don’t measure success by a cost/benefit formula. Success is simply doing the project, never mind the cost or the wisdom of it.
But the well connected will make multi-millions and politicians will get huge campaign contributions.
That’s what really counts - isn’t it?
/s
...the right track.
.
Yet the Reason Foundation says even those lowered estimates are unrealistic; 2035 ridership is likely to be 65% to 77% lower.
Not This (Stuff) Again. Ok Jerry, let's go over this just one more time, then you really have to go to bed.
The latest estimates are for $100B in capital costs to build the thing. That's the stations and rails and trains. $100B at let's say 5% interest (because CA is broke and their bonds should pay what these days is considered "top dollar") is $5B per year. Divide that by the very most optimistic estimate of 30M passengers per year to get $166 per passenger.
The state would do better to pay for a no-advance-purchase Southwest ticket and a SuperShuttle for door-to-door service at each end.
Oh and of course that doesn't count operating expenses of salaries, fuel to run the thing (the most-expensive "green" energy they can find of course), advertising, etc. Add that in and now your Southwest passenger gets a day at Disneyland or a night at a hotel courtesy of the state as well.
Do these loses include amortizing the (enormous) capital cost; or are they just losses on annual operating costs?
High-Speed Rail in California Brings Agenda 21 Megacities Closer
It costs a lot of money to save the planet...