LA likes high-speed rail

The L.A. City Council is getting aboard the (increasingly long-shot) bid to build a high-speed rail line up and down the state. In our area, some see it as a good commute alternative between L.A. and OC:

Efforts to fully fund construction of a 700-mile high-speed rail link that would begin in San Diego, travel through Los Angeles and end in the Bay Area won the unanimous support of the Los Angeles City Council today. The proposed electricity-operated train would travel 220 mph, whisking passengers from Los Angeles to San Francisco in less than three hours. The council also agreed to support a $9-billion bond measure that will go before voters in November to begin construction on a portion of the $40-billion rail system. Backers say the rail system is projected to carry 68 million passengers annually by 2020. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has said that California cannot afford the bond money to pay for construction of elevated and underground tracks at a time when more highways, levees, schools and prisons must be built. (CNS)

Comments

[Amir K]

I think all of you are exactly right. While public spending on high speed rail would be the quickest way to kill it, the private sector will do a much better job at it. We can let the city/county/state do the Metro Rail expansions, and let the businesses along the route invest in it.

As for prisons, yeah that was a bit surprising. How about we start by ACTUALLY executing death row inmates, then cram as many people as we can into existing cells. Finally, by taxing "soft" drugs like weed, we can get rid of over half of the prison capacity. Or just call me crazy.

[Pro Private Partnerships]

The person who suggested a railway to Vegas along the 15 via Barstow hit it right on: the gaming industry in Vegas would greatly benefit, and would cough up some money toward it, a private-public partnership. Any other partnerships should be sought, too -- going to the races in San Diego is a much smaller group, though a fairly large group would go to the border and over via Tijuana Trolley; any potential beneficiaries going to/by Indian reservations/ casinos, or rail-accessible resorts and wineries up north towards San Francisco...? But otherwise, our local city light rail lines have greater priority. RE: Arnold;s jail priorities, maybe we can send inmates to less crowded regions, where it's cheaper to build new facilities -- Paris Hilton-types can get community svc.

And to take private partnerships one step further: maybe contract out the jails, like the Green Dot charter school equivalents. Inmates might actually get some rehabilitation instead of warehousing, at less taxpayer money.

[Todd K.]

Boondoggle: a wasteful or impractical project or activity often involving graft

Come on, folks. Let's prioritize our spending. L.A. is having a hard enough time building a rail system to the Westside and now we're thinking of spending billions on this?

Let's figure out our cities' problem first. If you think the 40 minutes commute to travel 20 miles during rush hour is bad now, wait until 10 years from now when it's a 60 minutes commute and in 20 years it's an 80 minutes. That's what we're facing.

[Jon U]

Let's get on board the bullet train!!!

[Campechano]

The 15 interstate corridor has become a death trap over the last few years... So what about a high speed rail between las vegas and LA/San Diego Areas? The gaming industry could be interested in having a stake here...I think it would cut down traffic significantly.

[JP]

This should be one of our priorities. Its a shame our Governor doesn't think so.

[Greg Kay]

I was just thinking to myself, "if Los Angeles has been told that rapid public transit is a "local issue" by the Sacramento pols - despite the lack of a taxing mechanism to pay for it - why don't they push for a state-wide hi-speed rail that stops in say, Orange County, downtown and the westside and the valley?" And lo and behold....

[Tony Fernandez]

How can he put prisons and highways above this? That is just inane and idiotic. People with no rights deserve more money than we who are slowly becoming prisoners to traffic?