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And yet not a pip when the new governor of California, Gavin Newsom announced that the high speed rail projects there will be scaled back, markedly.[1] [2] Betw

And yet not a pip when the new governor of California, Gavin Newsom announced that the high speed rail projects there will be scaled back, markedly.[1] [2] Between Los Angeles and San Francisco, no less ! Atleast not from these pro high-density living and pro urban transit folks. I don't get how you pick and choose what you'd like to criticize and what you'd like to champion on one side and what you conveniently ignore when it suits you, on the other. I'm sure we can all agree that the LA-SF corridor could badly use a high speed rail line to alleviate the traffic on the I-5, right? [1] Gov. Newsom Puts Brakes On California’s High-Speed Rail Plan https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2019/02/12/gavin-newsom-brakes-california-high-speed-rail-plan/ https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2019/02/12/gavin-newsom-br... [2] California's Newsom Scales Back Plans for High-Speed Rail Line https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-02-12/california-governor-says-he-s-dropping-high-speed-rail-plan https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-02-12/californi...

magduf 8y ago
Unfortunately, he was right here, because that project was hopelessly overpriced. Yes, we badly need HSR in America, but the prices they're talking about are completely ridiculous. What we really need to do is just hire the Japanese to build HSR for us, because we obviously can't do it ourselves.
- asdff 8y ago
  The Japanese will come here and also have to deal with the hugely inflated prices of land and material acquisition. Everyone in the path of this project or a potential vendor all up and down the line is eager to profiteer and jack up the cost no matter who is engineering it. We need to keep large government projects far away from contractors because like every large government project involved with the private sector in history, costs will rise and rise and rise until people have had enough and the project is scaled back and/or killed. Otherwise, costs will rise until they hit that point, because as a contractor for the government, you have zero incentive not to profiteer.
bluGill 8y ago
That rail would do little for density. It might (at a more reasonable cost) be a good thing, but density is about things close to home, high speed rail is about getting people far from home.

magduf 8y ago

Unfortunately, he was right here, because that project was hopelessly overpriced. Yes, we badly need HSR in America, but the prices they're talking about are completely ridiculous. What we really need to do is just hire the Japanese to build HSR for us, because we obviously can't do it ourselves.

asdff 8y ago
The Japanese will come here and also have to deal with the hugely inflated prices of land and material acquisition. Everyone in the path of this project or a potential vendor all up and down the line is eager to profiteer and jack up the cost no matter who is engineering it. We need to keep large government projects far away from contractors because like every large government project involved with the private sector in history, costs will rise and rise and rise until people have had enough and the project is scaled back and/or killed. Otherwise, costs will rise until they hit that point, because as a contractor for the government, you have zero incentive not to profiteer.

bluGill 8y ago

That rail would do little for density. It might (at a more reasonable cost) be a good thing, but density is about things close to home, high speed rail is about getting people far from home.