He's basically a one man disaster zone when it comes to transportation policy. Though they are so up against the wall for money that congestion pricing may actually pass this year.
And remember, the whole point of it being the MTA as opposed to the NYC Subway, metro north, and the LIRR is to coordinate stuff like that.
Cuomo is the goddamn worst. I can’t believe people were dumb enough to re-elect him.
It would literally be cheaper to research and build a time machine to go back to the 1930s and tell the city leaders not to scrap any of the elevated rail lines (especially 2nd ave) than build the rest of the SAS today.
Personally, I'd think that a high speed rail line would help the California economy a lot, since give people the ability to live outside of the (insanely overpriced) San Francisco and LA metro areas and commute to work.
Hey... I'm sure that the Amtrak Acela went over budget as well, but now it's actually profitable.
Personally, I'd think that a high speed rail line would help the California economy a lot, since give people the ability to live outside of the (insanely overpriced) San Francisco and LA metro areas the ability buy a reasonably priced home and commute to work.
Hey... I'm sure that the Amtrak Acela went over budget as well, but now it's actually profitable. Get someone in there who can finish this thing!
Yes, we in NYC were clearly not always incompetent at building infrastructure but we very much are now and going forward that’s the new normal so that’s what has to change.
Phase one of the SAS was a titanic lift that was barely done despite it being three stations. I have no confidence that phases two through four will be any different. Something has to change.
If you have not read this story I recommend it. It’s a doozy:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/28/nyregion/new-york-subway-construction-costs.html
Why Is New York Different?
New York’s struggles come as transit construction is booming around the world. At least 150 projects have been initiated since 1990, according to a recent study by Yale University researcher David Schleicher.
The approximate average cost of the projects — both in the U.S. and abroad — has been less than $500 million per track mile, the study concluded.
“There was one glaring exception,” Mr. Schleicher said. “New York.”
okay but no one is commuting to and from work daily from San Francisco to Los Angeles. If they are, they are doing so as business travelers. This HSR project was a HUGE subsidy to business travelers. The billions should have been spent on LOCAL transit options (local public transit, carpool, better roads, upgrades, etc) and not to subsidize vacation travelers and business people.
Read it. I'd probably be quite angry over it if I lived there. LOL they had 200 workers there doing nothing and paid them each $1000 a day. WTF.
But the article says this:
Everything in there is applicable everywhere else and happens. But it sounds like NYC has some issues far more serious than other areas of the country.
It's good the Times did an investigative piece on it. Maybe it spurs some action on the part of local officials. Or maybe not.
Government entities handle things this complicated all the time though?
I never understand this reflexive antigovernment view. We already know that governments all over the world handle exactly this all the time. If the US can’t then isn’t the answer to look to other governments and do what they do instead of deciding the US is somehow magically and uniquely incompetent?
are you sure about that? AFAIK the only portion of the project that's been funded is the initial Fresno to Madera section. You're right that the full stage 1 is to get service completed to San Jose, but I don't believe that is funded yet. Maybe I'm overestimating our state legislators but I'm assuming that it can still be killed well before it gets to SJ.
My beef with CA bullet train is I don't think people will take the Bay Area to L.A. ride as originally intended so it will never be economically viable. I can take that one-way flight for under $100 (unless it's a last minute purchase). One-way fares for the bullet train are already projected to exceed $100, so who will want to take it? You'd have to slap a substantial carbon tax on the flight for this to work.
You could argue that with Bay Area housing prices as insanely unaffordable as they are, a Central Valley to Silicon Valley bullet train route would transform Fresno County into a bedroom community for SV. I suppose that's possible and not a bad idea, but it's hard to predict 15 years out with any level of confidence.
I'm not sure if you're saying a CV to SV bullet train route would be very useful as a peninsula commuter rail. I guess if they ultimately connect to SF, then that's a hell of a lot faster than CalTrain is now. But we're talking easily $40B here (if not more) and a lot of assumptions.
Does anyone have the total dollar amount wasted on this?
How much is the wall again...?
The GOP claims govt is incompetent & strives mightily to make it that way when they're in power.
It won't get you to your destination at 200 mph and it will cost more. It was a lie from the beginning. Why do you support it?
Meanwhile in China:
US can't seem to be able to build anything now. We are lucky if we can maintain what we have.
Acela, sort of, works on the Northeast Corridor because of investments the Pennsylvania Railroad made more than a century ago plus some loans from New Deal programs in the 30s. Amtrak mostly just shoved some more advanced rolling stock on old infrastructure it inherited. But yes the line is highly profitable for them.
LOLOLLLLOOLOO
Catch my breath...
LOLOLOLLOLOLL
This is what happens when democrats are in control, tax and spend, and spend, and spend.....
It is just a matter of time before California files for bankruptcy.
LOLOLLLLOOLOO
Catch my breath...
LOLOLOLLOLOLL
This is what happens when democrats are in control, tax and spend, and spend, and spend.....
It is just a matter of time before California files for bankruptcy.
That is what happens when we give out factories and technology away.
We were warned about this decades ago, but people did not listen.
Don’t Dens hold veto proof supermajorities in the CA assembly as well as the governorship?
Can you explain why trains are utilized so much on the east coast and in the rest of the world but you think won’t be utilized on the west coast?
I’m confused as to why you think arguing that because money was wasted in one place that we should waste additional money in another place.
If America wanted to build a useless wall they would have elected a congress to fund that wall. Instead they elected the opposite. It’s time for the right to come back towards the mainstream on this issue.
If this country actually wanted a wall, it would build one. No one wants a wall. Did you learn that last year, or no? A historic rebuke against the least popular president in history, and his useless party, should have told you that. It was pretty much the loudest, clearest message.
Why are you too fucking stupid to understand?
The wall wouldn't be a waste. Both parties have called for barriers in the past, if you weren't corrupted with TDS you'd understand that a physical barrier is indeed a hindrance and makes it harder to come here illegally, hence cutting down the number of illegals.
It is one of the pillars of the Trump platform. Trump, the president elected in what could be the biggest election upset of all time. The people did speak.
Every nonpartisan expert I am aware of says building the sort of wall Trump is proposing is an ineffective way of solving the problems he claims it will solve.
It’s a dumb idea and everyone knows it. The easiest way to see that is if Trump and the republicans ACTUALLY thought it was a good idea they would be willing to make major concessions to the Democrats to get it. They are not.
We had an election since then where the Democrats won by one of the largest margins in our lifetimes. When polled people said specifically they were voting to stop Trump’s agenda.
So yes, the people did speak. Why are you ignoring this?
doesn't it also run on leased track like, as far as I know, all of Amtrak's other trains? Along that corridor, which I tend to travel, Amtrak is 2nd fiddle to freight carriers that own the track, so it's an additional situation that increases travel times--a train that leaves it's destination even 20 minutes late, can face cascading delays throught the trip because it misses all of its optimum windows for travel time when running parallel with freight. I mean...I've had 6 hour trips (non-Acela, but still deplorably slow for the distance) go to 13 hours because of a 1 hour initial delay (yes, that trip almost turned into a bit of a Thunderdome situation in our train car, lol).
Building dedicated to track to commuter-only trains is of course incredibly expensive, but it's a major game changer when it comes to effectively moving people in responsible ways. I'm 100% certain that the high-speed rail critics have never traveled in Europe. They simply don't understand the system and how well it works when properly targeted.
Wow, people with a crystal ball say it won't work? Cool, people have an opinion. Here's a real life example of how a barrier, along with reformed immigration policies, can indeed make a big difference. I'm sure there were plenty of non-partisan experts that would have said the same about that wall. And let's not forget that the Democrats all wanted this until they're main platform became TDS-based obstructing.
Meanwhile, leftists are wasting billions of dollars on a choochoo train, creating a solution to a problem that doesn't exist. How about this, let's throw money at fixing a problem that DOES exist. It'd be a nice change if the left can get on board with resolving problems in stead of trying to exploit them for advantage.
doesn't it also run on leased track like, as far as I know, all of Amtrak's other trains? Along that corridor, which I tend to travel, Amtrak is 2nd fiddle to freight carriers that own the track, so it's an additional situation that increases travel times--a train that leaves it's destination even 20 minutes late, can face cascading delays throught the trip because it misses all of its optimum windows for travel time when running parallel with freight. I mean...I've had 6 hour trips (non-Acela, but still deplorably slow for the distance) go to 13 hours because of a 1 hour initial delay (yes, that trip almost turned into a bit of a Thunderdome situation in our train car, lol).
Building dedicated to track to commuter-only trains is of course incredibly expensive, but it's a major game changer when it comes to effectively moving people in responsible ways. I'm 100% certain that the high-speed rail critics have never traveled in Europe. They simply don't understand the system and how well it works when properly targeted.