With the reality of five-dollar gas on the horizon and the dependence on foreign oil, not to mention the carbon emissions belched by the millions of cars on the road, will California be the bullet train that leads the United States to a sustainable future?
Since 1996, the California High Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) has been pushing for the state to have a state-long, high-speed railroad system. Considering that it takes the average driver six-plus hours to drive down the freeway from Sacramento to Los Angeles, public trains traveling 220 mph and carrying the projected 117 million passengers could rapidly reduce highway congestion and carbon emissions.
If built, the high-speed rail would stretch from Sacramento to San Diego and over to the San Francisco Bay Area with stops in major cites along the way, at an estimated cost of $45 billion. Already $60 million has been spent on pre-construction activities, such as environmental studies.
But by far, the hardest part of creating a high-speed line that will stretch from Northern to Southern California will be scraping together that $45 billion. CHSRA expects 25 to 33 percent of the construction costs to come from the federal government. The authority’s finance team also expects public-private partnerships to contribute an additional $4.5 to $7 billion. While that brings the financing roughly to $25.7 billion - just over half the required funds to complete the project - CHSRA is hoping that their efforts will get a boost from voters.
In November, Californians will have the opportunity to vote for a Proposition 1 ballot initiative. If approved, Proposition 1 would provide $9 billion for the first stage of construction - a line between Los Angeles and San Francisco, with about $1 billion for local-line upgrades and connections to the high-speed line.
In spite of the high cost and lack of public awareness, people in California seem to be warming up to the idea of a high speed line that could green up the state. A poll conducted by the Sacramento Bee revealed that 56 percent of those questioned said they would vote for Proposition 1 in November. Perhaps history will repeat itself and the face of American transit will once again become the railroad.
Sample train travel times throughout the state.
- Burbank to San Francisco: Under 2 hours 35 minutes
- San Jose to Los Angeles: Two hours 21 minutes
- Sacramento to Los Angeles: 2 hours and 17 minutes
- San Francisco to San Jose: 30 minutes
- Riverside to Los Angeles: 33 minutes
- Bakersfield to Los Angeles: less than 1 hour
- Ontario to San Diego: less than 1 hour
- Fresno to San Francisco Airport: just over an hour
Watch the video about the rail system.
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