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Bring California a Gas-Free Option: High Speed Rail
By Steve Blackledge
Legislative Director
California Public Interest Research Group (CalPIRG)
Nothing bums me out like realizing that all the money I spend on gas helps keep oil barrens like ExxonMobil in the black, while contributing to smog and global warming.
One good thing about high-speed rail: No gas. And right now, with gas prices going from costly to scary, that's no small advantage.
The Legislature is working to strengthen a measure that will be on the ballot this fall, giving voters the opportunity to approve a $10 billion bond to start laying the tracks for high-speed rail to connect California major cities.
Together we've taken rail a long way, but that's no reason to stop now: Ask your Assembly Member to support AB 3034, the Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act for the 21st Century. The bill has a hearing tomorrow in the Assembly, so please take action today! To take action, click on this link:
Let me tell you a little bit about why I think AB 3034 is important.
If passed, the bill would change the bond to limit the number of train stations that can be built in order to prevent sprawl-inducing stations in undeveloped areas and keep the trip times fast. Additionally, the bill requires that the High Speed Rail Authority also leverages federal, local, and private funding for construction, to ensure that taxpayers are getting the most for their money and the train gets built.
California has a choice to make. With our growing population we have increasing transportation needs, however expanding highways and airports have huge price tags attached. For example, the master plan to expand LAX airport would cost more than $11 billion. Meeting interstate requirements for Highway 99 in the Central Valley and widening to eight lanes would cost between $20 billion and $25 billion. Expanding roads and airports cost us more than just money â?" they also increase our oil dependence, contribute to sprawl, and lead to even more unhealthy pollution.
Check out where you would be able to go on high-speed rail, how long it would take, and how much pollution you would avoid.
And don't forget to email your Assembly Member today.
Steve Blackledge provides policy and strategic guidance for the state PIRGs, primarily focusing on the issues of health care and consumer protection. Prior to this position, he spent five years as the legislative and policy director for CALPIRG, where his work led to new state-level policy reforms on issues ranging from health care and prescription drug costs, to Enron-style accounting scams, to protecting consumers from privacy invasions and identity theft.
Comments
Once again the drumbeat for the Springfield "monorail" of the Simpsons; lets soak the taxpayers with yet another bond measure to further drive the state into more debt.
Answer just HOW-HOW will you get a 200MPH train over and through both Soledad Canyon and Tehachapi Pass where current track speeds are down to 23MPH due to steep grades and sharp curves? Be sure to put the co-located San Andreas Fault into your calculation...
Then, how much will that cost? Multiply the answer by a minimum of 10.
"Sprawl induced stations"? I thought this train was supposed to serve the people too. Sounds like you want to bypass all those along the line between LA-Bay Area for your own personal big-city convenience...
Not with my tax dollars you don't! And I like and admire trains too...But you haven't "sold" this "monorail" yet...
Posted by: Jay Gould at May 6, 2008 04:30 PM
By the way, if you want to reduce our dependency on foreign oil, lets drill in ANWAR and off of our coasts...
But the folks here don't want to do that.
Lets use electricity-clean power to run these trains. Recall our electrical infrastructure is barely hacking the demand today...
But folks here don't want to build nuclear power plants to generate more electricity.
Let me know what you guys really want after you figure out how everything is connected to each other.
Posted by: Jay Gould at May 6, 2008 04:35 PM
Jay, I don't just want to reduce our dependency on "foreign oil", how about reducing our dependency on oil. period.
Posted by: Eric Wilson at May 7, 2008 10:22 AM
The author is very miss-informed about what AB-3034 does and does not do.
In point of fact this bill was supposed to "require that the High Speed Rail Authority also leverages federal, local, and private funding for construction, to ensure that taxpayers are getting the most for their money and the train gets built." (quoted from above).
This was the supposed to be the promise so that Governor Schwarzenegger would support the bond measure. Well that language in not in the bill; it has been watered down to say essentially private money can be used as part of the needed funding.
There is a world of difference between requiring these funds to be raised and what the bill says is allowing these funds to be raised.
AB-3034 as now written in just another very minor addition, trying to appease a few interest groups so that they will not attack the $10 Billion dollar bond issue.
$950,000,000 of the money has always been designated to go to other transportation agencies. This is pure "pork" and is in the measure to "buy them off" and keep them from opposing such a large amount of money being diverted to this one project. (what do San Francisco Cable cars have to do with the success of HSR? -- they get their piece of the pie also)
We have the story right. Visit www.derailhsr.com
morris brown
Posted by: morris brown at May 8, 2008 08:17 AM
The author is very miss-informed about what AB-3034 does and does not do.
In point of fact this bill was supposed to "require that the High Speed Rail Authority also leverages federal, local, and private funding for construction, to ensure that taxpayers are getting the most for their money and the train gets built." (quoted from above).
This was the supposed to be the promise so that Governor Schwarzenegger would support the bond measure. Well that language in not in the bill; it has been watered down to say essentially private money can be used as part of the needed funding.
There is a world of difference between requiring these funds to be raised and what the bill says is allowing these funds to be raised.
AB-3034 as now written in just another very minor addition, trying to appease a few interest groups so that they will not attack the $10 Billion dollar bond issue.
$950,000,000 of the money has always been designated to go to other transportation agencies. This is pure "pork" and is in the measure to "buy them off" and keep them from opposing such a large amount of money being diverted to this one project. (what do San Francisco Cable cars have to do with the success of HSR? -- they get their piece of the pie also)
We have the story right. Visit www.derailhsr.com
morris brown
Posted by: morris brown at May 8, 2008 08:18 AM
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