I don’t believe it will get built between LA and SD as its not an approved phase from what I could recall. I voted against this prop to build not because I don’t believe in investing in public infrastructure, but because the plan was shoddy. They based the plan on speeds between LA and SF that no train runs at in the world. To recoup any costs, the prices are going to be higher than flying on Southwest and the time difference (1hr flight) versus 6+hours on a train just doesn’t make sense to most people. OR they don’t charge more and they just put it on the taxpayer tab.
People ride the Acela in the NE between NY and Boston because the overall travel time is comparable. By the time you get to the airport in either city, and go through security, etc, you might as well take the Acela. Its more reliably on time than the planes and if youre plane is delayed or you sit on the runway for an hour, you’re better of taking the Acela. But I just don’t see mass numbers of people adopting this high speed train that takes too long and costs too much. So we just keep ringing up the state deficit and the taxpayers just keep paying.
What I think CA should be investing in commuter lines. I-15 is a great example. They are tearing up relatively new HOA lanes on the 15 to expand the freeway. Why don’t we put a high speed line in there for people to commute from Esco/RB/Poway etc to Sorrento Valley and Downtown in instead of spending money tearing up and rebuilding the HOA lanes? If you get critical mass, companies will jump on board and shuttle people. In the Bay Area and CT, there are shuttles that pick people up from the train stations and shuttle them to their offices.
The other thing I find is a joke is that we don’t have a light rail that connects our airport with our train and trolley stations, and to downtown. Likewise, its not all that efficient to take the train from SD to get to LAX as Amtrak doesn’t go to LAX.
The point someone made on SDSU students, our trolley and bus service takes way too long if you are not on a direct line from wherever you live to the campus. We need to have efficient mass transit to see adoption or increase the pain factor with driving your car.
