“Choo-Choo” Goes the Money Train

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Recommended: High speed rail case study

High speed rail is a great idea! How could anyone deny the unmistakable benefits that high-speed rail could offer California? Moving massive amounts of people, in a cost-efficient manner, is a marvelous idea. Taking thousands of commuters off the roads and highways would be an undeniably good thing. Lowering our dependence on fossil fuels will not only help lead us towards energy independence, but will also show benefits to the environment for our current and future generations. Who in their right mind would argue against such great and well intentioned ideals such as clean air, less traffic congestion, and higher fuel-efficiency? The answer is no one.

Here in the state of California, in the midst of the 2008 elections, the citizens voted to approve a $10 billion bond measure based primarily on the arguments listed above. It was initially estimated to cost a total of approximately $38 billion, and the balance after the initial $10 billion was going to come from private investment and the Federal Government. Since 2008, several factors have changed, and while the initial benefits are still desirable, our ability to achieve them in a cost efficient manner has come into doubt. The costs of such a project have skyrocketed, and the actual benefit to cost ratio has lowered significantly. The assumed private funding numbers altered dramatically, and the Federal Government has come into a deficit/money crunch of it’s own. On further analysis, the initial ridership numbers don’t seem to be accurate, as California culture is not one that appears to be ready for the shift that would be required to make such a project feasible. Also, travel times appear to be slower than alternate forms of transportation that currently exist....

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Works Cited

Huffington Post. Huffington Post Business. 27 Oct 2009. 30 March 2012 .

Reason Foundation. The CHSRP: Due Diligence Report. 1 September 2008. 1 April 2012 .

South West Airlines. You Wanna Get Away? 4 April 2012. 4 April 2012 .

University of California, Berkely. UC Berkely News Center. 1 July 2010. 30 March 2012 .

US Department of Transportation. Numbers of Registered Drivers. 1 January 2008. 30 March 2012 .

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