Government Technology - August 2007 - (Page 36)

The CHSRA says it needs $103 million to continue its work on planning the rail system. The governor says he’ll support high-speed rail if the authority comes up with a way to pay for it, but in the meantime, cuts its budget to the point the CHSRA claims is barely enough to keep its doors open. Adding to the quagmire is the fact that to drum up any private investment, backers will likely need to present proof that California voters support building the railway. But unless The California High-Speed Rail the bond goes on the ballot, it will project is being be difficult to prove such voter planned by the support exists. California High-Speed Despite these obstacles, Mehdi Rail Authority, which Morshed remains cautiously optiwill design, build and mistic that there is a future for highoperate the system. speed rail in California. An implementation “If you were to follow what the plan approved in governor suggested, then basiAugust 2005 estically the project will be put on mated it would take hold, and probably for all practieight to 11 years to cal purposes it won’t be going any“develop and begin where,” he said. “Based on what I operation of an initial hear and the people in the Legislasegment of the ture we’ve been talking to, there’s a very strong desire on the part of California highthe California Legislature to conspeed train.” tinue the funding for the project, and there didn’t seem to be a great deal of support — virtually no support — for the governor’s proposal to postpone the bond. The Legislature doesn’t seem to be inclined to go along with what the governor wants.” At a May 23 board meeting, however, the CHSRA may have shot itself in the foot. Presented at the meeting was a plan for a phased construction process. The phasing plan, should “Before we ask California’s taxpayers to mortgage $10 billion plus interest, we have to know where the remaining $30 billion is going to come from.” Sabrina Lockhart, spokeswoman, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger freeways that were never built, such a sell would be difficult. Conductor Wanted As California aptly demonstrates, highspeed rail projects need a high-profile advocate. The various rail authorities are simply not enough to make these railways a reality. Rick Harnish is the executive director of the Midwest High Speed Rail Association, a nonprofit advocacy group trying to spark interest in a high-speed railway that would connect major Midwestern cities. Harnish said people should demand that government step up and provide alternative transportation options. He added that if California made it happen, it would be far easier for high-speed rail to flourish elsewhere in the country. “It’s not impossible, and people need to tell their legislators they need real travel choices,” he said. “In a national sense, California is so important because if that system could get built, it would prove the case. The key is people throughout the country need to start telling their elected officials they want high-quality train service, and they expect their elected officials to come up with a solution to make it happen. If the governor said we’re going to link L.A. to the Bay Area within five years, it could be done very High-speed rail in the United States has failed everywhere it has been proposed. Some blame an addiction to the automobile. Such an argument is easily disputed by the fact that most people have no choice but to use a car. Most, however, point to a lack of political will. And as Mehdi Morshed said, where would we be today without those who took risks in the past? “Look 20 years down the road; look at where your state is going to be; look at your children and grandchildren,” he said. “What are you going to do about their mobility and air quality? Are you going to leave them high and dry? Or are you going to do something to prepare for them, just like people before prepared for us?” AUG_07 j j 36 Now at Visit www.govtech.com/fasttrack for content related to this article. View a slide show of high-speed rail systems. “It’s not impossible, and people need to tell their legislators they need real travel choices.” Rick Harnish, executive director, Midwest High Speed Rail Association j View a map and estimated travel times for California’s proposed high-speed rail system. View Florida’s long-term vision for high-speed rail. j the rail bond be approved, would call for initial construction of the track to run from Anaheim, in Southern California, to San Francisco in the North. By choosing this lower-cost strategy, the board is obviously hoping to improve the chances of making high-speed rail a reality. Unfortunately such phased construction entirely omits the San Diego and Sacramento metropolitan areas — nearly five million voters who would be asked to approve a $40 billion project with nothing but the promise of a rail extension to come years later. As voters in these cities look around for the promised quickly and at a fraction of the cost of comparable highway capacity.” Mehdi Morshed voiced similar sentiments — despite having only 1 percent of the requested $103 million approved by the governor. “The cost of a high-speed train is $40 billion, and that’s a lot of money,” he said. “But, over the same period of time that we’re talking about building a high-speed train, California is going to spend more than $200 billion on highways and other transit modes in the state. Relative to all the other expenditures, it’s not that huge of a change.” j View a map of high-speed rail routes in Spain. j http://www.govtech.com http://www.govtech.com/fasttrack http://www.govtech.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Government Technology - August 2007

Contents Point of View The Big Picture The Last Mile Letter to the Editor GT Spectrum Up Close Vanishing Act Way Back Machine Fast Track to Nowhere Best of Both Worlds Texting 911? GIS to Go Neighborhood Watch Two Cents Products Signal: Noise Government Solutions

Government Technology - August 2007

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