CA High Speed Rail Authority releases updated business plan
The CA High Speed Rail Authority, coming off a triumphant bond measure victory last week, has released an updated business plan. The plan provides an updated overview of the project’s benefits and how it should proceed.
The plan projects that the high speed rail system will generate “more than $1 billion in surplus revenues a year by 2030, reduce congestion and pollution, and return nearly three times as much in value as the system will cost over the next 40 years.” Ticket prices for the train are projected to be set at 50% of the equivalent fare for a plane flight.
The plan also calculates that “high-speed trains will alleviate the need to spend nearly $100 billion to build about 3,000 miles of new freeway plus five airport runways and 90 departure gates over the next two decades,” concluding that, “a statewide high-speed train system will meet that same need for about half the cost.”
Finally, the system should “reduce the state’s reliance on fossil fuel by 12.7 million barrels of oil per year and eliminate 12 billion pounds of CO2 emissions a year.”
While the entire project, linking the Bay Area, Central Valley, Los Angeles, Orange County, and San Diego, is projected to be complete by 2030, the business plan focuses on the “backbone link” between LA/Anaheim and San Francisco, since this will be the first phase of the project.
[Hat-tip: Progressive Railroading]
- Similar Posts:
- California voters will have opportunity to Force Change in November.
- There is always a reason to say ‘no,’ CA needs to say ‘yes’ to rail bond
- Chicago and rest of Midwest watching California high speed rail proposal closely
Comments
Please contribute to the discussion by leaving a comment below. No need to agree with the post or other commenters, but please be constructive and respectful.
