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Post by rubbertoe on Feb 21, 2012 7:23:36 GMT -8
Well, the great thing about the entire plan (ICS, Fast Track, Metrolink upgrade) is that instead of having what we do now, we will be in a position where we are one gap away from having a viable system (obviously not in 2:40) that will get you from SF to LA. Not even mentioning the inter-corridor travel possibilities, which would be even better (electrified Caltrain into downtown).
I would guess that if all 3 plans are put into place and construction starts, that the next focus would rapidly turn to "how do we get the funding to get across Pacheco" and up to San Jose?
RT
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Post by masonite on Feb 22, 2012 16:26:11 GMT -8
Don Sepulveda talked a great deal about the "Bookend Approach" at the most recent Transit Coalition meeting: See also Metro's report on the high-speed rail MOU and the Bookend Approach. This was very informative. Thanks for posting and Tony for taping.
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Post by matthewb on Mar 18, 2012 13:50:37 GMT -8
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Post by rubbertoe on Apr 20, 2012 15:53:56 GMT -8
The legislature is now considering whether or not to authorize the start of construction. The following link provides an easy way to notify both your representatives and the Governor that you support this, assuming you do Just click on the large "California residents take action" button on the right... standupfortrains.org/RT
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Post by rubbertoe on Jun 20, 2012 4:32:32 GMT -8
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Post by rubbertoe on Jul 6, 2012 9:15:01 GMT -8
The assembly passed the measure yesterday to allow for the release of bond money to start HSR construction. The senate votes today. Here is a link to the San Jose paper that is doing a live blog starting at Noon: www.mercurynews.com/california-high-speed-rail/ci_21019572If I find an audio link, I will post it after this. Keep your fingers crossed... RT
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Post by spokker on Jul 6, 2012 15:05:19 GMT -8
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Post by gatewaygent on Dec 21, 2012 14:00:10 GMT -8
There was an opinion piece on the channel 11 ten o'clock news. They stated that Ray LaHood is requesting additional funds but being told no. Then they stated that a few of our California politicians on the transportation board are also asking to NOT further fund the HSR. The reporter made it seem as though the central valley was going to get carved up and pillaged by vikings.
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Post by masonite on Dec 21, 2012 14:54:19 GMT -8
There was an opinion piece on the channel 11 ten o'clock news. They stated that Ray LaHood is requesting additional funds but being told no. Then they stated that a few of our California politicians on the transportation board are also asking to NOT further fund the HSR. The reporter made it seem as though the central valley was going to get carved up and pillaged by vikings. Fox 11 has been after HSR for a while with some sensationalistic reporting citing guys like Wendell Cox. They have quite the vendetta against the project. I sometimes watch a show on channel 11 which leads into their news program. I used to watch their news for a while, but now because of this, I am sure to switch to something more fair and balanced.
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Post by rayinla on Apr 18, 2013 19:59:36 GMT -8
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Post by culvercitylocke on Aug 12, 2013 18:13:19 GMT -8
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Post by culvercitylocke on Aug 17, 2013 0:22:30 GMT -8
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Post by masonite on Aug 17, 2013 9:16:45 GMT -8
Not good news when it comes to public transit in Los Angeles. If HSR doesn't happen, then there is more pressure to develop the auto and plane infrastructure and not rail transit. There will be a lot more pressure to accommodate the growing cars that come to SoCal from the fast growing Central Valley and passengers coming to LAX on the 405. That may mean a bus tunnel that allows for paying cars instead of rail in the Sepulveda Pass. The rail tunnel doesn't really pencil out as far as costs and available resources even with a PPP. Also, the Regional Connector is reliant on state funds in addition to local and federal funds. These state funds were largely to come from the HSR bond dealing with connecting to the system. Remember the bond was $9.95B with $9B to HSR and the rest to other forms of rail like Metrolink and the Connector to connect to HSR. The regional Connector may be in serious jeopardy without HSR. Don't think any HSR funds will go to local transit. The federal funds would go back to the Feds and the bond would not be able to be used for local projects since that is not what the voters approved. Republicans in the House hate local rail transit nearly as much as HSR. They have already made waves about cutting New Starts that would cut off federal funds for the Regional Connector and the Purple Line. Finally, LA rail transit would benefit greatly from being in the middle of the HSR system. There would be more passengers for the system similar to how European and Japanese systems work with people arriving to a city via train into the city center instead of plane or auto, where they then wont use public transit. It will be less likely to have a Green Line connection to Metrolink in Norwalk and a Red Line connection farther in the Valley.
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Post by LAofAnaheim on Aug 17, 2013 13:40:27 GMT -8
This is not good news at all if you are a fan of rail transit or public transportation infrastructure.
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Post by culvercitylocke on Jan 22, 2014 13:28:58 GMT -8
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Post by culvercitylocke on Mar 29, 2014 10:49:32 GMT -8
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Post by culvercitylocke on Jun 9, 2014 17:17:45 GMT -8
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Post by culvercitylocke on Jun 9, 2014 17:18:46 GMT -8
Sorry for the double post it timed out the first time. Seeing all the nefarious ways they're trying to avoid building the HSR line that voters approved and instead build their graft train in a single article really makes my stomach churn.
It's like trying to build the purple line extension by starting in La Habra and ending in Norwalk and saying it's the same "in concept" as extending the Purple line down Wilshire. because they might eventually connect it to the greenline and then you could connect from there to the blue line to the purple line, so building a subway way out there and calling it an extension is the same thing as extending the existing subway line.
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Post by culvercitylocke on Jul 1, 2014 16:12:18 GMT -8
Some new news, CAHSR is now considering Burbank to Palmdale as concurrent construction with the infamous nowhere to nowhere proposed section. LATimesCurbedOf course, it's good for LA commuters to have a Burbank to Palmdale mini-leg, but Palmdale is still a terrible detour for the line (like Bakersfield and Madiera and Fresno and all the other villages that are hundreds of miles away from the voted on route but now are included in the choo choo train graft bonanza). As I've said before, the only leg of HSR that makes sense is LA to SD, because the highways are already over capacity. The current mass transit system of highways between the other proposed cities are not at capacity and could be expanded with additional lanes easily if additional capacity is needed. It is highly unlikely additional capacity will be needed because California will run out of water for it's population before the population grows enough to put the existing city-to-city highways over capacity. The exception is that you can't really expand the LA to SD highways to increase capacity. Ergo, the only place that there is demand for an alternative is LA to SD, and that should be the first leg of the HSR. I really wish they were actually building a line between cities where their is demonstrable demand for city-to-city travel alternatives, instead of building a line between all possible villages and hoping that might maybe possibly perhaps match up to the demand patterns (if they're lucky).
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Post by culvercitylocke on Dec 15, 2014 0:50:46 GMT -8
www.latimes.com/local/politics/la-me-adv-bullet-metrolink-20141214-story.html#page=1Transfers to regular diesel trains will be how Los Angeles experiences the world's slowest bullet train, because metrolink insists. Just another side effect of the disastrous and illegal decision to "share" tracks in defiance of the ballot measure funding it. Now it can be even slower! The green line failing to go to lax isn't nearly as bad as the 100 billion train failing to go further than burbank because as quoted in the above article metrolink has deemed transfers "good enough." Supposedly the train will get to union station eventually, but that will probably cost another 100 billion.
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Post by matthewb on Dec 15, 2014 15:35:24 GMT -8
Seems more like Paul Dyson (who seems like a pretty reasonable guy) is pointing out potential future issues, the Metrolink board is clueless and lacking vision, and Ralph Vartabedian is negative about high speed rail as usual.
It's a very big and complex project, and the majority of state-level focus is on the Central Valley segments currently under construction / tender. As the project nears Palmdale, the focus on the relationship with Metrolink will get substantially more attention (just as Caltrain is getting more focus with time). My prediction is that there will be some strong and clear communication to the Metrolink board from the California governor once we get to that point, but it's probably a bit early for that now. It will get worked out, no matter how messy, and won't cost anywhere near 100 billion for 13 miles of track, though it will be one of the most expensive segments per mile in the whole system.
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Post by bzcat on Dec 15, 2014 18:04:50 GMT -8
The 2nd part of the HSR construction contract bidding was made public last Friday. The leading bid with highest competency score is also the lowest bid ($300 million below CAHSR's own estimates) so it will likely win the contract. Building the line first in Central Valley is looking smarter everyday. www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-bullet-train-bid-20141212-story.html
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Post by culvercitylocke on May 29, 2015 12:21:46 GMT -8
m.la.curbed.com/archives/2015/05/california_high_speed_rail_tunnel.phpFlyover visualizations of the Palmdale to burbank route. The western most alignment is shamefully stupid in virtually every measurable respect. The easternmost alignment is very nice, and probably the best option. The two middle options are probably politically less viable, but nothing much wrong with them.
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Post by johanragle on May 30, 2015 6:23:39 GMT -8
m.la.curbed.com/archives/2015/05/california_high_speed_rail_tunnel.phpFlyover visualizations of the Palmdale to burbank route. The western most alignment is shamefully stupid in virtually every measurable respect. The easternmost alignment is very nice, and probably the best option. The two middle options are probably politically less viable, but nothing much wrong with them. It seems like they tweaked the alignments in response to the Shadow Hills and Lake View Terrace NIMBYs. E1 used to be aligned with Little Tujunga Canyon, with a short surface section in the canyon. Now it remains entirely underneath Pacoima, but it's still going to piss off Acton ranchers since it emerges at-grade there. E2 has the added benefit of being the worst of all worlds, almost like they made it a sacrificial target so all the NIMBYs had something to fight against. Surface in Acton, bridge over the Tujunga Wash, tunnel under Shadow Hills... yeah, there is exactly 0% chance of this one getting built. E3 looks like the most expensive option, and that is a remarkably sharp turn at the end. But it's right after leaving the Burbank station, so the train won't be going that fast anyway. Interestingly, it emerges on the Metrolink VC line tracks along Vanowen. But it is entirely underground until just past Acton, so I would expect the NIMBYs to settle on this as the least-bad option.
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Post by johanragle on Jun 10, 2015 14:05:36 GMT -8
Potentially a severe setback, should this amendment make its way through the Senate unscathed. Effing Republicans obstructionists. denham.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/house-unanimously-passes-denham-amendment-nullifying-california-highHouse Unanimously Passes Denham Amendment Nullifying California High Speed Rail Grant Agreement Jun 10, 2015 Press Release Issues: Transportation WASHINGTON — In a vote Tuesday evening, the House of Representatives unanimously passed U.S. Representative Jeff Denham’s (R-Turlock) amendment to the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development appropriations bill nullifying the current grant agreement between the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and the California High Speed Rail Authority (Authority). “This amendment will finally hold California High Speed Rail accountable for its finances,” said Rep. Denham. “The project is several decades behind schedule, nearly $70 billion over budget, and will not meet the speeds, travel times, or ridership levels promised to voters. No longer will they be able to accept a hamburger today for payment on Tuesday.” Specifically, the amendment prohibits any appropriated funds from being used for high speed rail in the state of California or for administering a grant agreement that includes a tapered match. It would require the Authority to come up with $2.3 billion this year to continue the project. When FRA initially awarded the Authority with nearly $3 billion in federal grant dollars under the federal stimulus package, it entered in to a standard grant agreement with the Authority requiring a dollar for dollar match. This agreement stipulated that for every federal tax dollar spent, the Authority must spend a dollar from a non-federal source. California never came up with the money and subsequently missed payment deadline after payment deadline. In order to avoid violating the Federal Anti-Deficiency Act, the FRA quietly amended their grant agreement in December of 2012 to allow for a tapered match – allowing federal dollars to be spent in advance of any matching dollars, despite having no assurances from the Authority that the matching dollars would ever exist. The FRA’s Inspector General has subsequently criticized FRA for jeopardizing federal taxpayer dollars with this scheme. This amendment guarantees that the FRA must enter in to an agreement that requires the Authority to match, dollar for dollar, federal tax dollars in current fiscal years. Full amendment text can be viewed here. Rep. Denham has repeatedly introduced legislation to stop California’s high speed rail project from continuing to waste billions in taxpayer dollars. In June of 2012 and June of 2014, Rep. Denham offered the same amendment suspending federal funding for California High Speed Rail. It passed each year. He also successfully added an amendment to the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act (H.R. 7) in February 2012 ensuring that highway bill dollars could not be spent on California high speed rail. In January 2014, Rep. Denham introduced the Responsible Rail and Deterring Deficiency Act, which would suspend all federal funding to California’s high speed rail project.
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Post by mattapoisett on Jun 15, 2015 15:41:50 GMT -8
Potentially a severe setback, should this amendment make its way through the Senate unscathed. Effing Republicans obstructionists. Highly unlikely to pass since the President would have to choose not to Veto it. It would be like the President not vetoing an amendment to kill the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act [aka: Obamacare]
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Post by culvercitylocke on Sept 13, 2015 8:33:00 GMT -8
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Post by culvercitylocke on Oct 24, 2015 22:02:50 GMT -8
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Post by johanragle on Oct 25, 2015 0:12:16 GMT -8
Ralph Vartabedian can go take a hike for all I care. Why he's even still employed by the Times after more than five years of nonstop, semi-factual anti-HSR rants is beyond me.
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Post by culvercitylocke on Oct 25, 2015 11:52:16 GMT -8
Yes facts and math are much less acceptable than the hsr authority's fantasy fact free math free numbers. That article is a good break down of how the schedule and budget of the Palmdale burbank segment are way off.
I support hsr in concept, but the California hsr is a terrible project because it's many failures awful route planning and systematic frauds endanger hsr routes being built that could be successful. Like the east coast or LA to SD
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