| > "Abandoning high-speed rail entirely means we will have wasted billions of dollars with nothing but broken promises and lawsuits to show for it,” he said." Sounds like sunk-cost fallacy. > "And by the way, I am not interested in sending $3.5 billion in federal funding that was allocated to this project back to Donald Trump.” Sounds like a misleading personal appeal to CA residents that dislike Trump. Why would we settle for a high speed line ONLY between Merced and Bakersfield? Merced is a dinky little town of 80k and is several hours out from SF and San Jose via public transport and via car. Who is going to use this high-speed rail? Traveling SF to LA using this new line would mean:
1. Either driving 2.5 hours to Merced or taking a 3 hour, $30 Amtrak
2. Getting on the high-speed train (ticket price tbd)
3. Taking a 3 hour, $45 Amtrak from Bakersfield to LA So using this new line I can take 6 hours + (high speed rail time hours), two transfers, and cost $75 + (high speed rail ticket cost). Or I could take a $30 dollar greyhound in eight hours |