GETTING THERE FROM HERE - Vacationing in the Boston-Plymouth area is one of the most exciting things to do around Independence Day, but over here they're as concerned about our federal commitment to transportation as they are in my native California. [LINK]
Independence from traffic and increased mobility go hand in hand, but the question now that must be asked is whether the new high-speed rail approved by the California state legislature fulfills either of those worthy goals.
It has never enjoyed the popularity of local rail initiatives such as that within the San Francisco, San Jose, Sacramento, Los Angeles, San Diego and other major regions, but the idea of connecting them together has remained a popular one that made sense to many but overall has too many questions surrounding it to please many--perhaps most--voters.
Still, what might be the most tragic part of the CAHSR saga is that only now does the CAHSR appear to be consistent with engineering and operational realities. It's very hard to presume that it was only a "learning curve"--instead of, say, a bald-faced series of lies--that determined we needed to rethink what a CAHSR could and even should look like, and only after we passed the CAHSR Initiative:
1) For example, if it was cost- and environmentally-unfriendly to use up so much electricity to move a train comparable to a plane, should we always have just promoted this to be an alternative to the I-5, the 101 and 99 freeways instead? A train faster than a car isn't such a bad goal, right?
2) Was the recently-discovered $98 billion figure only truly known after the CAHSR Initiative was passed by the voters, or was the original $30-40 billion figure just a convenient deception to fool the voters? And, by extension, is the current $68 billion figure now one that can be trusted?
3) Should the right initial approach for CAHSR supporters have been to emphasize that some of the Amtrak and commuter rail lines (Caltrain, Metrolink) in our state already are some of the most popular and well-ridden in the nation, and that the first $10 billion in state bonds would go to improving the speed and operations of these existing lines to make them more accessible to the rest of us?
Unfortunately, by the time California sobered up about high-speed rail was at the same time our nation's stimulus program was losing credibility, and at a time when other cash-strapped states (Florida, Wisconsin, Ohio) were dropping their high-speed rail projects, and therefore even many rail/transit advocates (not just Republicans like John Mica, head of the House Transportation/Infrastructure Committee, but many Democrats as well) were turning from bullish to bearish on the CAHSR.
Other rail and transportation/transit projects suddenly became more attractive as priorities to be addressed, with CAHSR looking more and more like a pipe dream of hucksters.
And then the Obama Administration, particularly Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, insisted that the CAHSR stick to its original plans of building where it would be legally and environmentally easiest to start construction ASAP--the Central Valley--and offered $3.2 billion in federal funds and grants ONLY if construction began there.
Governor Brown, to his credit, threw out the knuckleheads running the CAHSR project (and who were quite comfortable with a $98 billion price tag) and focused on a more pragmatic project that built upon existing Amtrak, Caltrain and Metrolink lines whenever and wherever possible.
A $2 billion sweetener of upgrades to the LA and San Francisco ends of the CAHSR line by enhancing existing Caltrain and Metrolink connections were also offered to the Legislature, who were then inundated by union and contractor lobbyists wanting to build something--anything--to get people working in this neverending economic downturn.
Although the State Assembly passed the CAHSR funding/construction plan along party lines, the State Senate was more divided, with even Democrats (many of whom were previous CAHSR supporters and who felt bamboozled by the CAHSR Authority) threatening to vote no.
State Senator Mark DeSaulnier (one of the "Doubting Democrats") came up with a very interesting "Plan B" that would have dramatically reduced the amount of funding and construction in the Central Valley by shifting the funding and construction to the San Francisco, Los Angeles and Anaheim regions.
While it's not that hard to presume that DeSaulnier's "Plan B" would have been more consistent with the will of the voters and of private investors who wanted more upgrades at the ends, and not the middle, of the CAHSR project, the edict from Washington was immutable and the State Senate also voted along party lines to approve the $8 billion plan proposed by Governor Brown. (Link)
So it's "Hello, California High-Speed Rail!" and "Hello, Political Talking Points" as both the Democratic Party and the remnants of the GOP in this state duke it out over the wisdom of creating this CAHSR project when so many roads, rail lines and infrastructure projects could have been built instead for the $8 billion now dedicated to this project.
But beyond the hope and hype surrounding this project, the planning and construction of this line still has potential merit as a greater emphasis of airport-rail connections commences, and Palmdale Airport can finally have a train connection to make it as viable for regional commuters as is Burbank Airport with its own rail connection.
Furthermore, even if Palmdale isn't utilized so much for air travel, a Palmdale CAHSR station is still a vital linking point that incoming Metro Chairman and County Supervisor Mike Antonovich is focused on creating between the Desert Xpress Project (high-speed rail currently planned to connect Las Vegas and Victorville) and Metro via a second Desert Xpress extension from Victorville and Palmdale. (Link) http://www.vegasinc.com/news/2012/jun/07/desertxpress-inks-deal-add-train-link-victorville-/
Republican Mike Antonovich hasn't always been good at choosing his battles with the rest of Metro by fighting the Wilshire Subway and other Westside projects, but as incoming Metro chairman his vision of establishing a greater focus of airport/rail connections at LAX, Ontario, and Palmdale is hardly a focus with which commuters will have a hard time relating to.
And making Metrolink, Caltrain and Amtrak fast and safe and attractive to more commuters isn't such a bad idea, either, despite the likelihood we're wasting too much money on the Central Valley portion of our CAHSR efforts. But maybe--just maybe--this CAHSR effort will prove historically the right thing to do despite initial screwups, bait-and-switching at the political level, and downright lies by lobbyist and political spin doctors.
However, it will be the skeptical voters who will have the final say, because the question of whether this project was brilliant or a boondoggle will in part be answered in this November's elections as voters decide the fate of Governor Brown's tax hike proposal. LA Times columnist George Skelton is hardly the only one who is wondering if this "hello" to the CAHSR Project means "goodbye" to his proposed tax initiative--and all the education funding that goes along with it.
Although this current incarnation of CAHSR is almost certainly where the Authority should have started in its planning efforts, it will be up to Governor Brown to promote his vision of a new California, with tax hikes for the rich and a bullet train, between now and this November.
Otherwise, this state will be railing at the Governor, the Legislature and budget cuts for education (and cuts in everything else) at a very high speed, indeed.
(Ken Alpern is a former Boardmember of the Mar Vista Community Council (MVCC), previously co-chaired its Planning and Outreach Committees, and currently is Co-Chair of its MVCC Transportation/Infrastructure Committee. He is co-chair of the CD11 Transportation Advisory Committee and chairs the nonprofit Transit Coalition, and can be reached at [email protected] . He also co-chairs the grassroots Friends of the Green Line at www.fogl.us. The views expressed in this article are solely those of Mr. Alpern.)
-cw
Tags: Ken Alpern, transportation, high speed rail, California, Governor Brown, California Assembly, CAHSR
CityWatch
Vol 10 Issue 55
Pub: July 10, 2012
