California Leg. OKs funding for high-speed rail line

[Political Junky]

The train passed by 52% of the vote. It is so unpopular today that 70% of the people would vote against it. The low information public really thought it was going to go from Los Angeles to San Francisco!

By the time it can go from Los Angeles to San Francisco, the technology will have been replaced by the hyperloop.

Cons will come up with arguments against the hyperloop, too.

 

[westwall]

The train passed by 52% of the vote. It is so unpopular today that 70% of the people would vote against it. The low information public really thought it was going to go from Los Angeles to San Francisco!

By the time it can go from Los Angeles to San Francisco, the technology will have been replaced by the hyperloop.

Cons will come up with arguments against the hyperloop, too.

That's doubtful. It IS a technological advancement, will cost loads less than the supposed HSR and will actually be FAST, which the HSR won't be, based on where they plan on running it.

 

[Trajan]

The train passed by 52% of the vote. It is so unpopular today that 70% of the people would vote against it. The low information public really thought it was going to go from Los Angeles to San Francisco!

By the time it can go from Los Angeles to San Francisco, the technology will have been replaced by the hyperloop.

Cons will come up with arguments against the hyperloop, too.

if it makes sense I am all for it, sense means getting what was advertised...not the present boondoggle.

 

[Katzndogz]

By the time it can go from Los Angeles to San Francisco, the technology will have been replaced by the hyperloop.

You understand hyperloop is an unworkable fantasy, right? It has a few ... issues.

1. Costs underestimated by ... oh, by at least a factor of 10.

2. It's a vomit comet. Will the lateral accelerations and lack of horizon view, everyone will be hurling.

3. Capacity about one-fourth of high speed rail.

4. Doesn't go downtown to downtown, like HSR will do, hence it's not any faster.

HSR will not go downtown to downtown. Right now it goes from one desert town to another desert town and will continue to do that for many many decades to come.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

When can I ride the fast train?

The first ride was in the 19th century. Now we have a new invention called aeroplanes.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

By the time it can go from Los Angeles to San Francisco, the technology will have been replaced by the hyperloop.

You understand hyperloop is an unworkable fantasy, right? It has a few ... issues.

1. Costs underestimated by ... oh, by at least a factor of 10.

2. It's a vomit comet. Will the lateral accelerations and lack of horizon view, everyone will be hurling.

3. Capacity about one-fourth of high speed rail.

4. Doesn't go downtown to downtown, like HSR will do, hence it's not any faster.

High speed rail will not go downtown to downtown anywhere.

 

[MeBelle]

The train passed by 52% of the vote. It is so unpopular today that 70% of the people would vote against it. The low information public really thought it was going to go from Los Angeles to San Francisco!

By the time it can go from Los Angeles to San Francisco, the technology will have been replaced by the hyperloop.

Cons will come up with arguments against the hyperloop, too.

Sooo [MENTION=19507]Political Junky[/MENTION]
You have no issue with current tax payer waste of funds, when Cali is... N/M read it for yourself.

CALTAX RESEARCH:
Beyond the Wall of Debt: Detailing California’s Debt and Unfunded Liabilities Research: Beyond the Wall of Debt: Detailing California’s Debt and Unfunded Liabilities.
California state and local governments face more than $443 billion in outstanding liabilities from borrowing, deferrals, and other unfunded financial obligations.
CalTax September 13, 2013

1-18-2012
Jerry says: STATE OF THE STATE 2012: "CALIFORNIA ON THE MEND"
Office of Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. - Newsroom

Critics of the high-speed rail project abound as they often do when something of this magnitude is proposed

POSTED: 10/17/13, 2:57 PM PDT
The relatively sensible behavior of Gov. Jerry Brown and state lawmakers during the recent legislative session might have been a light at the end of the tunnel for Californians long skeptical about their leaders. Or the light might have been an oncoming train.

Yes, that’s an old joke. But this is an old subject: the way state leaders, pretty responsible with the taxpayers’ money lately, continue to subvert the public’s will when it comes to the $68 billion bullet train.

The latest example is rail officials’ insistence they would not be defying voter-mandated financial restrictions if they used $3 billion in federal tax funding instead of state money to build the first segment of the Los Angeles-to-San Francisco-area route.

A legal feint like this is not the way to reverse growing public opposition to the bullet train, which found 52 percent in a September poll saying the project should be stopped and 70 percent wanting a new referendum.

When voters passed Proposition 1A in 2008, approving nearly $10 million in bond money to start construction, the price tag was smaller, the timeline for building it was shorter, the route was longer and the trip quicker, expected ticket prices were lower and projected ridership higher.

The biggest legal hurdle now is a Sacramento judge’s ruling that the California High-Speed Rail Authority has defied the 2008 initiative’s requirement that all state funding sources be identified first

... when the cheers die down, state residents should tell Brown that the bullet train project as presently proposed is unacceptable. The courts must stop it, and if they can’t, the electorate must get another say. What state leaders are pushing is not what voters wanted.

Bullet-train plan defies the public’s wishes — again: Editorial

AND

As for pensions, I have put forth my 12 point proposal

BUT...

Stop stalling, pass meaningful pension reform.
By Sen. Bill Emmerson
POSTED: 08/03/12, 9:00 PM PDT

Democrats responded by delaying action and have refused to set both SCA 13 and the governor's pension plan for a public hearing. In fact, Republicans even made a motion on the Senate floor to vote on the governor's pension proposal and Democrats opposed it and ran out the clock, thus blocking this crucial reform.

Stop stalling, pass meaningful pension reform

Want to justify a train to nowhere?

 

[Sallow]

Woot!

Finally!

Three Cheers for California!!!!!

 

[MeBelle]

The train passed by 52% of the vote. It is so unpopular today that 70% of the people would vote against it. The low information public really thought it was going to go from Los Angeles to San Francisco!

By the time it can go from Los Angeles to San Francisco, the technology will have been replaced by the hyperloop.

Cons will come up with arguments against the hyperloop, too.

Thanks for the opening...
Dems will lie about the state of affairs in California too

 

[Quantum Windbag]

In all of those places TWO lines are not running in the red. TWO! You should figure out how much it will cost the people of CA. Then figure out the airline alternative, and see how many years of operation it would take to make it pay.

It would be much cheaper to build a restricted lane down the center of I-4 and hire a stretch limousine for each commuter than it would be to build and operate a SunRail line between Tampa and Orlando. Faster too!

So why don't we just do that?

The longer we wait to even start building HSR, the costs will skyrocket before long, because
while we have lost 1251 railroad lines in the last 40 years, there will still be many more lost. The goal of HSR is to build a nationwide system, and it WILL be done eventually. Obama has already got the ball rolling with billions of dollars of incentives to states, and surely many contracts are well into the planning stages. A major cost of building the nationwide system including the one in California includes large amounts of money that will go to buy back property from farmers, ranchers, and homeowners, due to their building and developing over long lost right-of-ways. 1251 lost rail lines means 1251 lost right-of-ways.

Abandoned Rails: Home

Thousands of miles of railroads have been abandoned in the United States, much of it in the last 40 years. All of these abandoned railways have a history and a story.

List of each railroad line lost in last 30 years: Abandoned Rails: The Railroads

Obama unveils high-speed passenger rail plan - CNN.com

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Obama unveiled his administration's blueprint for a new national network of high-speed passenger rail lines Thursday, saying such an investment is necessary to reduce traffic congestion, cut dependence on foreign oil and improve the environment.

The president's plan identifies 10 potential high-speed intercity corridors for federal funding, including California, the Pacific Northwest, the Midwest, the Southeast, the Gulf Coast, Pennsylvania, Florida, New York and New England.

To give examples of just how mind-boggling and costly it will be to restore the right-of-ways for a nationwide system, I've posted some of the maps of the 1251 already lost. If landowners don't get a fair price for their land, they will eventually band together and fight the eminent domain laws in court. Once a large group of landowners organizes, watch out! Click on each link to see the map.

Abandoned Rails: Traces of the Quanah, Acme & Pacific Railway
Abandoned Rails: The Alabama, Tennessee and Northern Railroad
Abandoned Rails: Atlanta to Fort Valley
Abandoned Rails: The Maryland & Pennsylvania Railroad
Abandoned Rails: The Framingham and Lowell Railroad
Abandoned Rails: Waveland to Lapel
Abandoned Rails: Elgin, OH to Hammond, IN
Abandoned Rails: Jackson, MI to Franklin, OH
Abandoned Rails: The Conrail System
Abandoned Rails: The Illinois Central Gulf Railroad
Abandoned Rails: The Pennsylvania Railroad
Abandoned Rails: Wateree to Kings Creek
Abandoned Rails: The Chicago, Attica and Southern Railroad
Abandoned Rails: The Illinois Central Railroad
Abandoned Rails: The Louisiana Midland Railway
Abandoned Rails: New Franklin to Machens
Abandoned Rails: The Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad
Abandoned Rails: Beaumont to New Albany
Abandoned Rails: The Tecumseh Branch
Abandoned Rails: The Texas & Pacific Railway
Abandoned Rails: The Union Pacific Railroad
Abandoned Rails: Atlanta to Fort Valley
Abandoned Rails: Elgin, OH to Hammond, IN
Abandoned Rails: The Mad River & Lake Erie Railroad
Abandoned Rails: Lake City to Palatka
Abandoned Rails: The Hannibal and Saint Joseph Railroad
Abandoned Rails: The Bamberger Electric Railroad
Abandoned Rails: The Southern Pacific Railroad
Abandoned Rails: The Western Pacific Railroad

You know what every single one of those abandoned rail lines had in common? C'mon, take a guess.

That's right, government subsidies in the form of loans, tax credits, and outright bribery. Yet you want us to turn around and do the same thing again.

Just because you are insane does not mean I have to be.

 

[Sallow]

When can I ride the fast train?

The first ride was in the 19th century. Now we have a new invention called aeroplanes.

You should leave the country sometime.

See how the rest of the world looks..you'd be amazed.


[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Vm8_l5oye4]Rotterdam-Antwerpen 300 km/h, Thalys cab ride / cabinerit - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Quantum Windbag]

The train passed by 52% of the vote. It is so unpopular today that 70% of the people would vote against it. The low information public really thought it was going to go from Los Angeles to San Francisco!

By the time it can go from Los Angeles to San Francisco, the technology will have been replaced by the hyperloop.

Cons will come up with arguments against the hyperloop, too.

The only argument that I have seen against the hyperloop came from a liberal.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

When can I ride the fast train?

The first ride was in the 19th century. Now we have a new invention called aeroplanes.

You should leave the country sometime.

See how the rest of the world looks..you'd be amazed.


[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Vm8_l5oye4"]Rotterdam-Antwerpen 300 km/h, Thalys cab ride / cabinerit - YouTube[/ame]

Are you saying that trains were not invented over 200 years ago? By the time they finished building all the railroads somebody had invented a better way to travel. My guess is that we will do the same thing long before anyone can build a LA to NY high speed boondoggle, but why should you care, government money is magic in your universe.

 

[Luddly Neddite]

When can I ride the fast train?

The first ride was in the 19th century. Now we have a new invention called aeroplanes.

You should leave the country sometime.

See how the rest of the world looks..you'd be amazed.


[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Vm8_l5oye4]Rotterdam-Antwerpen 300 km/h, Thalys cab ride / cabinerit - YouTube[/ame]

Europe works because they want it to.

No, the trains go from a "downtown to a downtown" but they're a lot more convenient and cheaper than flying and move people across empty rural areas as well as through cities.

We need to stop moving freight with trucks. Retrain truckers to work trains and save a bundle. Trains take freight to a hub and trucked from there.

The Rs will never allow trains because they're in the pocket of big oil.

 

[Trajan]

When can I ride the fast train?

The first ride was in the 19th century. Now we have a new invention called aeroplanes.

You should leave the country sometime.

See how the rest of the world looks..you'd be amazed.


[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Vm8_l5oye4]Rotterdam-Antwerpen 300 km/h, Thalys cab ride / cabinerit - YouTube[/ame]

How much is a plane ticket from SF to LA?

How long incl. getting to the terminal and flying there, does it take?

How much is the train ride as of their last estimate?

How long incl. getting to the terminal and train riding there, does it take?

When will the track from SF to LA be working?



I await your responses and thank you in advance.

 

[Sallow]

The first ride was in the 19th century. Now we have a new invention called aeroplanes.

You should leave the country sometime.

See how the rest of the world looks..you'd be amazed.


[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Vm8_l5oye4"]Rotterdam-Antwerpen 300 km/h, Thalys cab ride / cabinerit - YouTube[/ame]

Are you saying that trains were not invented over 200 years ago? By the time they finished building all the railroads somebody had invented a better way to travel. My guess is that we will do the same thing long before anyone can build a LA to NY high speed boondoggle, but why should you care, government money is magic in your universe.

I'm saying if you rode on one, you'd know what I am talking about.

It's efficient, energy saving and clean.

Plus it's pretty fun.

 

[Sallow]

The first ride was in the 19th century. Now we have a new invention called aeroplanes.

You should leave the country sometime.

See how the rest of the world looks..you'd be amazed.


[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Vm8_l5oye4]Rotterdam-Antwerpen 300 km/h, Thalys cab ride / cabinerit - YouTube[/ame]

How much is a plane ticket from SF to LA?

How long incl. getting to the terminal and flying there, does it take?

How much is the train ride as of their last estimate?

How long incl. getting to the terminal and train riding there, does it take?

When will the track from SF to LA be working?



I await your responses and thank you in advance.

Await what?

Have a look at airplane routes sometime.

Airports are crowded and putting more planes in the air isn't really the answer.

And car traffic is nuts in California. I was just there.

Building more roads isn't really the answer either.

One of the most under utilized modes of transportation in the United States is something we essentially invented.

The train.

Time to get on board.

 

[HenryBHough]

Even with today's slow trains New York to Boston is quicker by rail than by air. If you take into account the time to get to the airport at least an hour before your flight, the time you spend in line to be probed, the time your plane sits on the runway waiting for clearance, the actual flight time, the time waiting for a gate to clear, the time waiting for your bag that you had to check 'cause all the overhead bins were full, the long walk to the taxi pickup point, the traffic on the way into town.

Of course I didn't believe it until I had tried and timed both.

In MOST of Europe the equation works out the same, especially with the Channel Tunnel.

Plus, when's the last time anybody hijacked a train?

 

[Quantum Windbag]

The first ride was in the 19th century. Now we have a new invention called aeroplanes.

You should leave the country sometime.

See how the rest of the world looks..you'd be amazed.


[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Vm8_l5oye4"]Rotterdam-Antwerpen 300 km/h, Thalys cab ride / cabinerit - YouTube[/ame]

Europe works because they want it to.

No, the trains go from a "downtown to a downtown" but they're a lot more convenient and cheaper than flying and move people across empty rural areas as well as through cities.

We need to stop moving freight with trucks. Retrain truckers to work trains and save a bundle. Trains take freight to a hub and trucked from there.

The Rs will never allow trains because they're in the pocket of big oil.

Are you going to turn every road in America into a tran track? If not, you aren't going to get rid of trucks. Even if you do, what are you going to do when someone wants to build a new house where we don't have tracks yet?

See how incredibly stupid your argument is yet? If not, feel free to repeat it and allow me to look like a genius.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

You should leave the country sometime.

See how the rest of the world looks..you'd be amazed.


Rotterdam-Antwerpen 300 km/h, Thalys cab ride / cabinerit - YouTube

Are you saying that trains were not invented over 200 years ago? By the time they finished building all the railroads somebody had invented a better way to travel. My guess is that we will do the same thing long before anyone can build a LA to NY high speed boondoggle, but why should you care, government money is magic in your universe.

I'm saying if you rode on one, you'd know what I am talking about.

It's efficient, energy saving and clean.

Plus it's pretty fun.

I rode on trains quite a bit when I was a child.

Then I grew up and learned that driving lets me get from my house in San Francisco to any place in LA without wondering what I will do if some asshole union goes on strike.

BART workers plan to strike Friday - SFGate