High speed rail comes to California

[telemann.livejournal.com]

California's high speed rail will start with a spur between Bakersfield and Fresno. The spur has earned some giggles from conservatives, considering how relatively small those two cities are. But this is the start of a high speed rail line that will eventually extend from San Francisco to San Diego. Federal money from the stimulus bill passed in 2010 has jump-started the project, with additional monies from Wisconsin and Ohio (the Republican governors of those states did not accept the Federal grants).

The construction will create 150,000 jobs in California, and some estimates have projected nearly 650,000 permanent jobs will be created along the rail corridor. The project will help reduce overtaxed roads in California, and will remove more than one million vehicles from the state's roads and freeways; and it will also lessen California's dependence on foreign oil by up to 12.7 million barrels per year. Estimates vary from 22 million to up to 96 million riders per year). The final cost of the entire project varies by source, but some estimates have been as high as 81 billion dollars. It's estimated as spurs are completed, profits from those lines would help finance construction costs, making it somewhat cost effective. I think the entire project is a great one, and sure it's going to be very expensive, but then-- most big projects are. The United States has been falling significantly behind on infrastructure investments for some time, we need to do something about it!

Comments

[politikitty.livejournal.com]

supply creates it's own demand.

[whoasksfinds.livejournal.com]

clearly, given the success of amtrak.

[gunslnger.livejournal.com]

Well, for one thing, Amtrak in CA doesn't own the rail line, so they can't keep to a schedule due to the freight trains interrupting them so often. I won't take Amtrak again due to that, whereas if they hadn't been continually interrupted, it would have been a nice experience and I might have done it again. I know it's an anecdote, but I see no reason why that wouldn't be the case for a large enough number of people to be a significant part of the problem with Amtrak.

[whoasksfinds.livejournal.com]

so this new system should put amtrak out of business.

[gunslnger.livejournal.com]

Probably should, but since Amtrak is gov't funded, it probably won't.

[whoasksfinds.livejournal.com]

which is the problem.

[nevermind6794.livejournal.com]

That's the major issue with Amtrak. They don't own the rails and can't get railroads to leave their schedules alone, or upgrade the tracks.

[moonchylde.livejournal.com]

Yeah, when freight has right-of-way it plays merry havok with schedules.

[telemann.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Amtrak set records for ridership, so yeah.

[whoasksfinds.livejournal.com]

so that record ticket revenue must be paying for the new investments right?

[moonchylde.livejournal.com]

Only if it is cheaper than mp3s and has a better sound.


This is faster and will be more reliable than Amtrak; the question is the price of tickets.

[moonchylde.livejournal.com]

But your response was just a fancy way of saying, "No."

no, my response is a fancy way of saying 'people do things for different reasons, but price and reliability are huge factors'.

seriously, people still collect laserdiscs and 8-tracks and vinyl - it isn't a valid comparison.


your other comments... agreed with me about price and specified reasonable speed and schedule. which I mentioned in my last comment.

and comparisons to Europe don't mean anything if we do things differently. so lets do things differently.

[farchivist.livejournal.com]

Why do you always ask "If a tree falls in the forest..." questions? I mean, do you just pick random things that you know have no current market value for giggles or what?

[politikitty.livejournal.com]

Take it up with Jean-Baptiste (http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=supply+creates+it's+own+demand).

[moonchylde.livejournal.com]

high speed trains aren't 8-tracks. they are more like CDs or MP3s, if you want to go with music comparisons, for crying out loud.

[politikitty.livejournal.com]

That's a lot of meaning to take out of 10 words.

whoaskfinds posted an economic truism, and I countered with a different one. Mostly to reflect that invoking something considered economic fact is different from actually making an argument.

Second, explaining economic theory in the case of extremes rarely works because it sounds so absurd as to be believable. Economics relies on the margins. So in your example: yes, the spontaneous creation of 1 billion 8 tracks will create a demand. It's not that people will spontaneously want 8 tracks, but the owner of a billion 8 tracks will be desperate to unload them.

Just as supply=demand doesn't guarantee success of a product, neither does Says Law. But it explains why the iPad was successful despite the fact that the market existed without it perfectly content for millions of years.

[dwer.livejournal.com]

except for the fact that he's not talking about obsolete equipment.

[dwer.livejournal.com]

Except that you're talking about a high-speed rail system that will help to significantly reduce traffic congestion, and thus pollution. The comparison to coffee cups doesn't work either. There's a demonstrated need for this system.

[prock.livejournal.com]

Yes.

Next question?

[prock.livejournal.com]

No.

Next question?