Posted on 12/07/2014 9:33:35 PM PST by george76
Between sprawling, no-center LA and anywhere, however, is a loser.
This is just euro-envy techporn for liberal hipsters.
This is a spoof story printed last January in the “Onion.”
27,000 MPH of Raw Frosty Power!
It will never be built and the need for it quite simply isn’t there.
No argument on the last point, and wish I could be sure it will never be built.
On the other hand, a high speed Interstate Highway from LA to San Fran, would get a lot of use and probably be cheaper to build and operate
“a high speed Interstate Highway from LA to San Fran, would get a lot of use and probably be cheaper to build and operate”
Texas has a toll road, from Austin south to I-10 around Seguin, built by a German track company. Posted speed limit is 85.
...and I’ll bet it’s a money maker.
I miss the Willie Green Happy Choo-choo threads. They were always entertaining.
But publicly funded boondoggles? Hell no!
The gov should have gone to Nevada and propsed a high speed la to Vegas. The demand is there. See traffic on I-15
One line Burbank to Barstow stop in Palmdale. Another Ontario to Victorville to Barstow. One line with gambling Barstow to Vegas.
Room tax in Vegas to pay and meet any operational shortfall.
No state or federal funds except to approve right of way and environmental impact.
It's more than that. Consider maintaining perfectly straight and level road beds for a high speed anything over unstable and expansive clay soils traversing multiple earthquake faults.
This is just euro-envy techporn for liberal hipsters.
Nope, it's a real estate scam. They've already destroyed the value of the land by cutting off the water and will buy at a pittance. They'll build insta-cities along the corridor surrounded by "greenbelts" off the tax rolls thus squeezing on every inch with air pollution regs so tight NOBODY will be ALLOWED to drive. They they'll force suburban homeowners to relocate, squeezing tight on developments that cost little to build but selling very dear. That is the Agenda 21 in action, every bit the same as China's ghost cities in the desert.
Let’s say an imaginary version of this rapid rail finally occurred.
On day one...things start to get noticed. For this 380 mile episode....it’s roughly three hours by high-speed rail, while it’s still 75 minutes by airline. Right off the bat, you lose interest by a quarter of the population.
Then you advertise the fares (something nobody will discuss today). Round-trip between the two cities would have to run at least $250. Airfare is $215 for the cheapest possible ticket while the average price is near $300 for evening flights. You won’t save much, so it’d wipe out another quarter of the folks.
Then you get to the all-important question....where do you park? Some idiot will build a massive parking garage near both ends of the railway and charge $26 a day. So, you figure out the cost of driving over there and parking for three days.
The only place in America where it might make financial sense....is DC to New York. Otherwise, it’s wasted money and will never return on it’s investment.
A high speed train from LA/OC to Las Vegas might be viable.
I would argue with you on several points (while agreeing with you that this bullet train is a bad egg).
You’re talking fares of $250. It’ll probably be somewhat cheaper, because the government has a penchant for subsidizing fares. All the buslines and trains around here are two-thirds subsidized, with the farebox only covering one-third of actual costs. We taxpayers take a constant daily hit in taxes to subsidize operations beyond the costs of building it. (People gripe about paying $2 for the Muni busfare in SF, when actual costs should be $6 a ride.)
As for parking, political idiots are doing everything to discourage parking at bus and train stops. A lot of that goes on here, with neighborhood permits required for parking excluding commuters, to no garages permitted or to jacking up parking fees for garages that were built at some stations (as you indicated, high garage fees). The trains don’t go to where people are, so you lose customers who can’t easily get there to the stations.
As for DC to New York, don’t they already have trains? I haven’t used them on that route, but have from Philadelphia via Trenton, New Jersey to New York. I thought they were very efficient although crowded. I drove from Philadelphia to DC and the drive was easy, I imagine it isn’t too bad from DC to New York.
All in all, I think the need for high-speed trains is overblown, and would benefit very few people while hurting taxpayers who don’t use it.
A BIG problem with this boondoggle is that they want it to come up into the Antelope Valley from the Bakersfield side and then go down into the LA Basin via the CA14 corridor...mountainous terrain up, mountainous terrain down.
We already have a commuter train from the AV into the LA area, like this is gonna be different somehow?
Pure IDIOCY!
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