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The California Progress Report is published by Frank D. Russo, a longtime observer of and participant in California politics.

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CALIFORNIA’S HIGH-SPEED RAIL SYSTEM AT A CROSSROADS

By Bill Dawson

As a frequent user of High-Speed Rail (“HSR”) in France and Germany, it has always puzzled me why we do not have such a superb transportation system in the United States. HSR is clean, fast (220 mph), efficient, and reliable. It would shrink a stressful six hour drive from San Francisco to Los Angeles to a stress-free two hour and a half hour trip during which I could look at the countryside, read, chat, or think.

For trips of up to 500 to 600 miles HSR beats every other form of transportation. Ask anyone who has ever used it.

Russia, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, South Africa, China, South Korea, and Taiwan are all building HSR systems. France, Germany, and Japan are expanding the systems they already have.

In California, planning for HSR has been in the works since 1993. Economic and feasibility studies have reaffirmed what common sense tells us: that HSR will be a critical factor in reducing automobile traffic, dependency on foreign oil, decreasing air pollution, controlling urban sprawl. It is planned to carry 68 million passengers by 2020 with the capacity to carry two to three times as many as that. It should be a vital factor in the planning of California’s future.

Every community that is affected by it strongly supports it. Every major newspaper in the State has come out in favor of it.

So – why don't we have it?

The answer probably won’t surprise you: politics.

The future of the project is at a crossroads, and the immediate issue is the funding of project construction bonds in the State’s proposed budget.

The deeper problem is that the Governor has come out against it. This is astonishing, considering that the HSR system fulfills so many of his professed goals: job creation, technological innovation, and greenhouse gas reduction. Instead, he is supporting expansion of the highway system which has brought us so many of the problems we are now trying to overcome, and does nothing for our children and future citizens who will find themselves even more enslaved to the same system of freeways and gridlock.

This is a short-sighted perspective which serves neither the Governor nor the future of the State of California. By diverting millions of passengers from automobiles and airplanes, studies show HSR would replace the need for building 3,000 miles of new freeway plus five airport runways and 90 departure gates in the next two decades. Studies further indicate that HSR will create 450,000 jobs, and reduce tens of thousands of traffic deaths (HSR has a safer record than any other form of transportation, and is indeed safer than walking on the sidewalk).

These are not small benefits for California. They are huge.

Not only is it difficult to understand the Governor’s position on the matter, it is difficult to understand why, given his professed love for this state, he is not high-speed rail’s most ardent supporter. At this particular moment his political weight behind the project could be invaluable, and would do far more for the future of California, and his own legacy, than building another freeway.

Bill Dawson is a San Jose attorney.

Posted on July 03, 2007

Comments

For literally YEARS, the California legislature, and the state governor, have both been UTTERLY DEVOID of doing any really long-term planning for California (our so-called "Nation-State"), be it transportation, health care, education, prison system, you name it. As to transportation infrastructure, the problems of financing and re-building our rapidly deteriorating transportation systems are NOT restricted to California. They are NATION-WIDE!

Readers, especially state officials AND PRIVATE INVESTORS, are encouraged to read a report, "INFRASTRUCTURE 2007, A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE", by the URBAN LAND INSTITUTE. It's available as a pdf download at www.uli.org. The ISBN is 978-0-87420-990-7. It's over 60 pages long, and covers California's problems in detail, including the re-election-defeat fear of legislators to increase any kind of taxation to accomplish needed spending.

If we don't mend our ways, countries like China will be kicking our butts in 20 years. Their economic and technological abilities are growing rapidly - high speed train systems, contruction of airliner aircraft to compete with Boeing and Airbus, etc., etc.

I'm not sure how well we will ever survive these current CLOWNS in Washington, the Ca. governor's office, and our completely ridiclulous, short-sighted legislature. The "outside-of-the-box" creativity, and political courage, to resolve these problems will NEVER, EVER come from these pathetic idiots!!!

Posted by: John Shields at July 4, 2007 10:11 AM

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