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ALPERN AT LARGE - If you want to find an anti-rail guy, find someone else. However, if you want to find a “spend without oversight” guy...again, find someone else. Go to some other CityWatch writer.
Because I actually HELPED push for the CAHSR (California High-Speed Rail) to get across the finish line, I won’t decry it’s intent—but pragmatically and morally, the whole thing was a LIE and a boondoggle that should have been (and could have been) sold as something more modest but helpful.
The CAHSR was sold as something FASTER (or at least of similar speed) as an airplane between San Francisco and Los Angeles...but its planners knew that the increased energy outputs of higher speed rail, and the inability to have trains blast through major metropolitan regions at 300+ mph, made the whole sales pitch a lie.
Now, don’t get me wrong—going 100-150 mph in suburban/rural areas is wonderful with respect to Lancaster, Burbank, and other regional airports that aren’t profitable for airlines, and moving between San Francisco to/from Stockton is similarly of benefit financially and of greater convenience for commuters.
But high-speed rail is too doggone unrealistic and cost-ineffective compared to a jet plane with respect to long distances between San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Furthermore, would a high-speed rail be one that is really NEEDED with respect to priorities compared to subways north-south from the San Fernando Valley and LAX, or the Wilshire Subway, or even a Metrolink extension from LAX to Union Station.
The cost for the CAHSR was promoted as $33 billion for the entire system ($65 billion in today’s dollars), but right now the cost appears to be $89-128 billion or higher, and with a much smaller system than originally promoted.
So expect this to be “DOGEd” because there’s at least a plurality of voters in our state who do NOT want this project to suck up funds for other needed projects (including widening the I-5 freeway and reduce congestion/carbon or any other road or rail projects).
The feds won’t give us money, will pull back any money they can from the Biden Administration, and we should either expect no less and/or blame those running this CAHSR that...yes...they did NOT aggressively cut costs as they should have.
So how can we save high-speed rail, or at least focus on “higher-speed rail”, in the Golden State?
- Fire as many as we need to from the Authority—their “groupthink” is absolutely indefensible.
- Stop focusing on “it’ll create jobs” or “climate change” because there’s plenty of arguments that misspent money and the lack of attention to motorists’ needs (and the relatively small number of people who will ride this rail line such a long distance--much longer than New York/New Jersey to D.C.—has to be confronted. It will make our environment/greenhouse gas situation WORSE.
- Ask the airlines to use these rails for supplemental air/rail links for its employees, for freight, and for shuttling commuters from airport to airport in a more cost-effective way for the private sector to operate. If the airports and airlines aren’t on board, any rail network will fail.
- Focus on where people want to GO with respect to high-speed rail...in particular, the Southern CA to Las Vegas line will bring people to where they want the most (long ago, a Disney/Vegas line was promoted)...and by doing so, enhance ridership and a higher likelihood of profitability.
- Finally, and this is admittedly a toughie, allow Native American tribes (or some other private entity) special GAMBLING corridors to allow these trains to (in certain locations, and by the right laws) have gambling, some entertainment, and even some nice spaces (Seats? Small rooms?) to encourage high-end ridership.
Otherwise, expect this project CAN and SHOULD fail...because even blue-state Californians don’t want to be lied to, and endure waste, fraud, and abuse while they have to foot the bill for all the governmental malfeasance associated with the California High-Speed Rail Project.
(Kenneth S. Alpern, M.D, is a dermatologist who has served in clinics in Los Angeles, Orange, and Riverside Counties, and is a proud husband and father. He was active for 20 years on the Mar Vista Community Council (MVCC) as a Board Member focused on Planning and Transportation, and helped lead the grassroots efforts of the Expo Line as well as connecting LAX to MetroRail. His latest project is his fictional online book entitled The Unforgotten Tales of Middle-Earth, and can be reached at [email protected]. The views expressed in this article are solely those of Dr. Alpern.)
