California High Speed Rail
Today I attended a luncheon sponsored by the Women’s Transportation Seminar on the California High Speed Rail (HSR) and I’d like to take a look at this idea…
Currently, as of 2008 fiscal year, the State of California has just a shade over $120 billion in authorized general obligation bonds on its accounting books. This coming election has an additional 4 bond measures on the ballot totaling an additional $16.8 billion.
One of which is Prop 1A, High Speed Passenger Train Bond Act. Proposition 1A authorizes the sale of $9.95 billion in general obligation bonds to fund the construction of a high-speed passenger rail system connecting San Francisco Transbay Terminal to Los Angeles Union Station.
Proposition 1A’s bonds would cost taxpayers over $19 billion through the bond ($9.95 billion) itself and interest ($9.5 billion) if sold over 30 years at 5 percent. The debt would be paid off over 30 years, in annual payments of $647 million. After it is constructed, the high-speed rail system is projected by officials to cost more than $1 billion annually for ongoing maintenance and operation.
The route departs San Francisco and heads south to Gilroy before using the Pacheco Pass to get over to Hwy 99. The board opted for this route instead of using the Altamont Pass in December 2007 amid a fury of controversy.
The Pacheco route was seen by supporters as the speediest, most-direct route to Los Angeles. Which it is. (Yet somehow nothing was said about the strange diversion at Bakersfield whereby it goes through Palmdale to get to LA . . . hhmmmm)
However, using the Altamont Pass hugely benefits central valley cities like Tracy, Stockton, Elk Grove and Sacramento – cutting over a half hour off the time to get from Sac to SJ vs saving only 10 minutes off a 2-hour and 19-minute trip between SJ and LA. And virtually every environmental group out there opposed the Pacheco Pass route as it goes through the Grasslands Ecological Area, which has the largest contiguous block of wetlands in California (more than 90,000 acres).
So at the luncheon today, our speaker, Rod Diridon, board member on The California High-Speed Rail Authority (and past Santa Clara County Supervisor), gave his pitch about high speed rail, stating that the high-speed rail system will help to reduce traffic congestion, pollution (greenhouse gases), and our dependence on foreign oil. He also stated that it will increase safety (less car accidents) and provide a less expensive transportation options for Californians (cheap ridership fares).
Side Note: the proposed alignment will go through Diridon Station in San Jose (next to the HP Pavilion). If there’s any coincidence with the last name I’d love to know.
It’s hard to dig into Rod’s claims without spending hours doing an independent check of the Rail Authority’s report. But one thing is certain: this thing is wildly expensive. The estimate for this first stage (SF to LA) is $40 billion. Add stations in Sacramento/Stockton/Modesto plus Anaheim/Riverside/San Diego and we’re talking mega bucks.
Is anyone not a skeptic of cost estimates from the government? We could be looking at the largest public works project in California’s and maybe the nation’s history.
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