BRU loses appeal in the courts....

Appeals court upholds MTA's victory over Bus Riders' Union | L.A. Now | Los Angeles Times

      

Appeals court upholds MTA's victory over Bus Riders' Union
5:58 AM | May 6, 2009

A federal appeals court has upheld a lower court ruling that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority had substantially complied with a consent decree requiring the agency to provide more bus service to low-income and minority residents of Los Angeles County.

The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the decision of U.S. District Judge Terry J. Hatter, who denied a request by the Bus Riders’ Union and other community groups to extend the court’s supervision of the MTA beyond 10 years. The groups had claimed the agency failed to reduce overcrowding on it busiest bus routes as required by the earlier consent decree.

Hatter found that the decree, which required the MTA to spend $1 billion to buy buses, add service and maintain low fares, had "served its purpose." The Bus Riders’ Union appealed the decision in December 2006.

—Dan Weikel

The most technologically advanced phone ever released in the world. Check out this video and be spellbound

Business leasing land near Orange Line extension are slated to loose them and Extension completion date is 2013

Orange Line Extension Revs up to Break Ground - LAist: Los Angeles News, Food, Arts & Events

Orange Line Extension Revs up to Break Ground


Photo: Fred Camino
Not owning your own property can be a bitch. And such is life when leasing from the government, one who will now be using some of the land for a transportation corridor. The Orange Line busway extension from the Warner Center up Canoga Avenue to the Chatsworth Train Station is slated to break ground this June. That means the businesses that have been leasing right-of-way property from Metro--some have for 50 years--will be booted or have their lease properties be chopped up into small ones.

Father and son Charles and Bob Jacobi own one of those properties. "When there are so many places going out of business either on their own or through the economy, why should the government get involved in removing more businesses?" questioned Bob Jacobi to the Daily News. Other business owners and even government and economic officials agree, but they also note that no matter what, complaints will pile up and the benefit of the corridor to the region is a good thing.

The extension is scheduled to open in 2013.
user-pic
By Zach Behrens in News on May 5, 2009 8:59 AM 5 Comments

Comments (5) [rss]

[1] | Farley Elliott

Sorry, Mr. Jacobi, but this is a very short-sighted view of job creation, the economy, and the government. While it is unfortunate that some people have been leasing for upwards of 50 years, you can't deny that every single one of them knew the land they were on wasn't theirs, and could be taken back at some point by the government. I have sympathy for these people, but I do not believe the government is wrong.

Reply | May 5, 2009 9:12 AM

[ report this ]

[2] | thegodofthor

I have to add, that in this economy, These people should be able to get a great deal on a new lease where ever they move. Sadly moving costs are huge.

I see lots of business spots that are for lease. Looks like it's a leasers market.

But this extension has been long overdue. I think it should have been a part of the original project.

Reply | May 5, 2009 9:22 AM

[ report this ]

[3] | thegodofthor

Oh, I have to ask cause I stopped following the progress of this. Did they decide in the final plans to include the bikepath along side the extenion?

Reply | May 5, 2009 9:25 AM

[ report this ]

Zach Behrens replied to comment from thegodofthor

Yes, most of it will have a Class 1 bicycle path.

Reply | May 5, 2009 9:42 AM

[ report this ]

[5] | GoToHell

Great, now convert it from busses to a light rail line.

Reply | May 5, 2009 11:20 AM

[ report this ]

My theory: every mile of track for the bullte train will generate one complaint averaged out over the whole line. The Bullet train hasn't been built yet and the complaints are already out there.

GilroyDispatch.com | Letters: Get ready for the bullet train's sonic blast out of the tunnel

Letters: Get ready for the bullet train's sonic blast out of the tunnel
11:17 AM
By The Community

Get ready for the bullet train's sonic blast out of the tunnel

Dear Editor,

After reading a recent letter in the Dispatch, I was alarmed and dismayed to learn that tunnels for Gilroy and Morgan Hill are part of the design for future high-speed trains. I doubt that Gilroy and Morgan Hill residents are aware that when high-speed trains emerge from tunnels, there is a very loud and dramatic sonic boom-like effect.

Such an earthquake-like blast several times a day will seriously degrade the quality of life for anyone within a few miles of the train tunnel exits. Anyone in Gilroy who can even barely hear the trains today had better tighten their windowpanes and be ready for the shock waves. I suggest local citizens take note of this and demand a full disclosure before this project is closed to modification. I assure you this will not be tolerated in any city to the north on the path of these trains.

Add to this another concern: Because this concept has been so long in coming, it is for a system that is outdated and soon to be replaced in Japan. Yes, 200-plus mph may seem fast to us, but those trains are being replaced by the new version, which is well over 300 mph which, of course, have slightly different rail bed requirements. Perhaps California can buy the discarded junkers from elsewhere in the world to build our system!

Odd that Americans will be impressed with the equivalent of propeller planes when the rest of the world is converting to the equivalent of jets.

We in South County will be again, where we were with U.S. 101 on the stretch between Morgan Hill and San Jose. When that was planned, it was well known to be an inadequate road on the day it opened. To bring it to where it should be years later, the ultimate cost of that road was triple what it could cost if properly designed from the beginning.

It would be great to hear an official response to these concerns, but it is very likely we will hear nothing, hoping that Gilroy and Morgan Hill citizens will be unaware until it is too late to remedy.

Tony Weiler, Gilroy

The main problem now: a lack of integrity in leaders - locally, too

Dear Editor,

Integrity: an innate character manifest by honesty, truth, incorruptible and able to stand firm in support of his principles against any challenges or ridicule by others.

There was an article in a recent Wall Street Journal titled " Global Crisis." It caught my eye.

In essence it said there are no national leaders in this world who are men of integrity, nor any men of integrity in our United States Government. The net effect is that if you encounter theft, corruption or injustice, to whom can you turn to for redress? No one, NONE! This lack of integrity is found at all levels of our government.

In Washington D.C. the president and his advisors all believe you can spend your way out of debt. They also believe you can lift yourself up by your own boot-straps.

We have a similar lack of integrity at our state level. The Regents at the University of California at Berkeley have salaries above $300,000 per annum. They recently gave themselves raises necessitating increasing the students' tuition fees so the Regents budget could be balanced.

At the local level (Gilroy) we see a number of employees at all levels of the administration have received compensation increases of 30 to 40 percent over the past few years. If you would better understand the soap box opera going on at City Hall, then look up the Gilroy Dispatch issue of April 21. The article lists the salaries of various employees so you get an idea as to where and to whom the taxpayers' largess is going. Favored employees get a nice raise, others less fortunate a "pink slip." With the economy depressed, one wonders just how long the Gilroy budget will remain in balance. Time will tell.

There is an axiom in logic that states, "If you start with a false premise then no matter how correct your reasoning, you can never reach truth." Applying that axiom to the global crisis and locally, we must recognize that until we have men of integrity as leaders, then no end of reform, bailouts, stimulants or earmarks will solve our problems.

How do we develop men of integrity? A step in the right direction might be to restore the Holy Bible in the public schools' classroom.

J. G. McCormack, Gilroy

Petition Amtrak to make Gilroy a 'Starlight' passenger stop

Dear Editor,

For many years, I attempted to generate interest and campaigned to restore passenger rail service to the Monterey Bay Area.

Currently, Amtrak's "Coast Starlight" train passes through downtown Gilroy twice a day on it's route from Seattle to Los Angeles and back. At times, this train is forced to stop in front of the depot as it has to await the arrival of the 7:30 p.m. Caltrain because of single track north of town.

Current regulations do not allow passengers to de-train from the Starlight. It would be prudent for city officials to petition Amtrak to include Gilroy as a station stop. This would enhance travel options, bring added business downtown as people would come from the surrounding area to board the train without the hassle of driving to San Jose or Salinas.

Gary V. Plomp, San Martin

FAQ: Demystifying ID fraud

FAQ: Demystifying ID fraud | Security - CNET News

FAQ: Demystifying ID fraud

by Elinor Mills


Every time I use my credit card online I suffer a momentary feeling of angst, even though I know that it's still safer than handing my card over to an unscrupulous waiter. The impersonal nature of the Internet and the perception that I lose control of my data after I hit "submit" contributes to this lack of sense of security.

Also contributing to this paranoid feeling are all the reports of phishing scams, including IRS and tax-related scams; data breaches at retailers like TJX, where more than 45 million accounts were exposed; and payment processors like RBS WorldPay, where stolen data led to cloned cards and ATM withdrawals last year.

This all got me to wondering exactly how the data gets from my credit card or keyboard ends up as money in the pockets of criminals.

How does the data get stolen from my computer?
There are many ways sensitive data can be pried out of computer users. In a typical social-engineering phishing attack, a consumer opens an e-mail that looks like it was sent by the consumer's bank, Amazon, PayPal, or some other trusted source. With a bogus excuse, such as suggesting there was a security incident and the user needs to verify his or her account details, the e-mail will prompt the recipient to provide username and password via a link to a Web site that looks legitimate but isn't. The consumer enters the information and continues on, not knowing that the data is now being sent to criminals.

In other cases, criminals create fake e-commerce Web sites where consumers provide their credit card information to pay for a product that will never arrive. Attackers also have ways of rendering legitimate Web sites risky by injecting malicious code into the Web sites with cross-site scripting, SQL injection, and clickjacking attacks. Such attacks, typically invisible to the consumer, can be used to steal data that a consumer types in.

Other attacks are accomplished by getting spyware onto a victim's computer. For instance, attackers can distribute a worm via an e-mail attachment that downloads a keystroke logger onto the recipient's computer when it is opened. Attackers also can create programs that exploit unpatched holes in Windows or holes in a browser that haven't been fixed and download keyloggers onto computers. The keyloggers can be written to send data to a remote server every time the computer user types a password or social security number, for example.

If I don't use my credit or debit card on the Internet, how does the data get stolen?
Attackers can steal data by planting a skimming device that reads the magnetic-stripe data from the card when a user slides it through a payment card reader at a register or using a skimmer on an ATM machine combined with a video camera that records the PIN when someone is making a transaction. The magnetic-stripe data includes name, credit card number, and expiration date.

Attackers can steal more people's payment card data at a time by hacking into a retail firm or payment processor's computer network. In the TJX incident, experts believe attackers made their way into the company's system by first gaining access through a wireless regional hub for the company's store controllers, which handle the point-of-sale system. Attackers also can grab unencrypted PINs from bank systems during the authorization process using specially crafted malware that scrapes the data from the memory of the bank's computer, according to Wired. Or attackers can trick a misconfigured hardware security module, which decrypts and re-encrypts PINs as they make their way across various bank networks, into revealing the encryption key.

What do the criminals do with the data when they get it?
Cybercriminals tend to have specialties. The data thieves, also called "harvesters," sell it to brokers who either use the data themselves, hire others to do the leg work to withdraw the money, or sell it to others via IRC channels, private peer-to-peer networks, carder sites, and other organized underground marketplaces.

Often, the data is sold with a money-back guarantee in the event that the cards are found to have been reported as stolen or if the data is incorrect. Brokers have a number of ways of verifying cards. They can break into an e-commerce Web site and process small transactions on the card with a payment processor to see if the transactions go through. Or they can use the card data to make a $1 donation to a charity.

Once the data is verified, the criminals can turn it into cash by either moving the money from the victim's account to an account they control, wiring themselves the money, creating counterfeit checks, or even just withdrawing small amounts (under $50) on a regular basis that may not get noticed by the cardholder.

Many of the criminals are located outside of the data's country of origin and will need to be able to either transfer funds or make international purchases without alerting the authorities. To do this, criminals have elaborate schemes using middlemen, also known as "drops." For instance, criminals will advertise work-from-home jobs in the U.S over the Internet and by e-mail. The drop is merely asked to provide a local address or bank account and when money or goods arrive, they are instructed to transfer it on to a foreign address. The criminal then takes over the bank or credit card account for which data was stolen, and changes the address or bank account to that of the middleman.

"The countries where re-shipping happens include Nigeria, where you can't easily buy consumer goods. This is a way for them to get goods," said Dave Ostertag, global investigations manager at Verizon Business who used to be a chief investigator at Discover Card. "This fraud stocks the shelves of a store in another country."

An estimated 70 percent of the online identity fraud activity is related to organized crime, Ostertag said. In the U.S., street gangs can make more money off mortgage fraud than they can selling drugs, he added.

The criminals also can make blank plastic cards that are encoded with the stolen magnetic-stripe data. Often, cards are produced in one country and shipped back to the country where the account is located. The cards then can be used by "runners" to make withdrawals from ATM machines if the PIN codes are known.

Criminals have been known to use private databases to get more complete information on victims, such as address, date of birth, and even social security number. For instance, the U.S. Postal Service says someone accessed LexisNexis and Investigative Professionals databases without authorization and used personally identifiable information from there to obtain fraudulent credit cards.

Screenshot of price list for stolen credit card numbers and available balance amounts discovered on the Web by McAfee Avert Labs.
(Credit: McAfee Avert Labs)

How much is the data worth?
There is so much stolen magnetic-stripe data available on the underground markets that prices for it have dropped from between $10 and $16 per record in mid-2007 to less than 50 cents per record today, according to the 2009 Data Breach Investigations Report (PDF) from Verizon Business. Those price tags go up when the PIN is available and cash can be withdrawn directly from a victim's account.

The value of a card is determined by a combination of factors. Cards from the U.S. and Europe fetch higher prices, as do cards with more available credit or balance, those with additional information such as PIN or home address, and those that have been verified.

Credit card data can range in price from 6 cents for bulk quantities to $30, while bank account credentials range from $10 to $1,000, according to a Symantec Internet Security Threat Report released last month. Most of the stolen credit card data for sale is from the U.S., the report found.

Is the consumer liable for any fraudulent charges?
While credit card fraud typically has a zero-liability policy for consumers, the burden of proving fraud is on the consumer when it involves a debit card.

How big a problem is online identity fraud?
The latest Consumer Reports survey found that over the past two years 1 out of 13 Americans provided personal data to phishers, 1 in 12 had serious problems with spyware, 1 in 7 lost money to online fraud or had computer virus problems, and about 1.7 million were victims of identity fraud, the San Francisco Chronicle reported on Monday.

A report from Javelin Research (PDF) places the number of identity fraud victims in the U.S. at 10 million in 2008. Identity fraud rose 22 percent last year from the year before to the highest level since 2004, the report said. Meanwhile, online theft and data breaches each represented 11 percent of the known identity fraud incidents, compared to 43 percent for lost or stolen wallets and 19 percent that occurred during a transaction.

Payment card breaches represented 80 percent of the 90 reported breaches last year, and payment card data represented 98 percent of all records compromised, according to the report from Verizon Business.

Between January and December 2008, consumer complaint database Consumer Sentinel Network received more than 1.2 million consumer complaints, according to a report released by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (PDF) in February. Of those, 52 percent were fraud complaints and 26 percent related specifically to identity theft.

Complaints of online crime hit a record high last year and total dollar loss linked to online fraud was $265 million, according to a report released in March by The Internet Crime Complaint Center, a partnership between the FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center. The third most common fraud complaint was credit or debit card fraud, representing 9 percent, preceded by non-delivery of merchandise or payment at 33 percent, and Internet auction fraud, representing more than 25 percent.

What can consumers do to protect themselves?
To protect against online identity fraud, consumers (who use Windows) should sign up for regular automatic Microsoft software updates, use the latest browser versions with enhanced security features, and keep their antivirus and other security software up-to-date. To avoid phishing and other malicious sites when Web surfing, there are a number of programs, including McAfee Site Advisor and AVG LinkScanner.

McAfee also recently launched the McAfee Cybercrime Response Unit, where people can go if they suspect they have become a victim of cybercrime or identity fraud. The site has a free Windows-based scanner that can give an indication of how likely the consumer is to have been victimized, as well as specific steps to take in the case of identity fraud. These include changing account passwords and PINs, placing a fraud alert on credit reports, and reporting the crime to authorities.

The FTC's Identity Theft Site, the Identity Theft Resource Center, and The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse's Identity Theft Victim's Guide have more information.
Elinor Mills covers Internet security and privacy. She joined CNET News in 2005 after working as a foreign correspondent for Reuters in Portugal and writing for The Industry Standard, the IDG News Service, and the Associated Press. E-mail Elinor.

Great Article on the foundations of High-Speed Rail

Mega-Regions and High-Speed Rail - Richard Florida

A Treasure Trove of Articles on High-Speed Rail articles from www.infrastructurist.com

The Daily Dig - High Speed Rail Edition

Posted on Friday May 1st by The Infrastructurist

• Local politicians gathered at Main Street Station in downtown Richmond, Virginia, to promote a high speed rail link with Washington, DC. (Times Dispatch)
• An Indianapolis to St Louis high speed rail link could transform Terre Haute the same way the interstate system did 50 years ago. (TH Tribune Star)
• Opposition to California’s high speed rail plan is gathering momentum. (SF Examiner)
• Instead of John Murtha’s “airport for no one,” how about decent rail service to Pittsburgh? (Greater Greater Washington)
• The city of Buffalo could (and should!) be a hub for high speed cargo rail. (Art Voice)
• Japan sends a transportation official to lobby the US to use bullet train technology in its proposed HSR network. (Bloomberg)
• The French government wants to build an express train linking Paris’s city center with Charles De Gaulle airport. (Transport Politic)
• Canadian rail car maker Bombardier is enthusiastic about Obama’s push for a better passenger train network. (Montreal Gazette)
• Georgia continues to lag far behind on rail and as it indulges “an almost cartoonish addiction to roads.” (Creative Loafing)
• Columnist: “I’m all about high-speed rail. Real high-speed rail, I mean—electric trains cruising on dedicated track at 300 km/h, not some kind of watered down diesel chug-a-lugs that slow down at level crossings.” (National Post)

(Image: Zuma Press)

A Map with Specifics of America’s Streetcar Renaissance

Chart: America’s Streetcar Renaissance » INFRASTRUCTURIST

THE RAIL WORLD
Chart: America’s Streetcar Renaissance
Posted on Monday May 4th by Yonah Freemark



Streetcars were a common sight in U.S. cities at the beginning of the 20th century, but by the 1960s, they had been wiped out, usually replaced by buses deemed cheaper to operate and more comfortable. A few cities like San Francisco and New Orleans preserved several of their lines and continued to run historic trolley cars.

Until recently, though, there has been little interest in the United States in building new street-running train networks, with communities more likely to focus on faster — but more expensive — light rail transit systems, which operate in their own rights-of-way.

In 2001, Portland reversed the trend, opening a downtown streetcar line with brand new rolling stock, intent on using this mode of transportation to encourage transit-oriented development. The results have been impressive: $3.5 billion in new construction, 10,000 residential units, more than 5,000,000 square feet of office and hotel space. Politicians and transportation experts have flocked to Portland to see the results, and cities across the country are now pondering systems of their own. This map provides a description of current proposals for modern streetcar networks in metropolitan areas around the country and their development status. It also indicates where historic systems, either never terminated or newly restored, operate today.

See the full-sized version of the chart after the jump.

Click here for a map for a larger version: americas-modern-streetcar


Yonah Freemark is an independent researcher currently working in France on comparative urban development as part of a Gordon Grand Fellowship from Yale University, from which he graduated in May 2008 with a BA in architecture. He writes about transportation and land use issues for The Transport Politic and The Infrastructurist.

How one guy got MTA to add a stop to the 720 rapid bus line

blogdowntown: Metro Rapid 720 Adding Stop at Central

Metro Rapid 720 Adding Stop at Central
By Eric Richardson
Published: Monday, May 04, 2009, at 07:58PM



A Metro 720 rapid bus passes through the intersection of 6th and Spring on Monday evening.

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — Sometimes all you have to do is ask.

Metro's 720 rapid bus will soon be adding a new stop at 6th and Central, all because Daveed Kapoor bothered to ask the agency to do so.

Kapoor noticed that Metro's 720 rapid bus passed through Downtown on 6th street but made no stops between Main and Soto, on the other side of the river. He thought it would make perfect sense for the line to stop at Central, serving both the Arts District and Central City East.

At the end of March, Kapoor sent a map showing the potential stop off to various elected officials, including the Mayor, Councilman Jose Huizar, Planning head Gail Goldberg and CRA head Cecilia Estolano.

Then he attended Metro's board meeting on April 23, stepping up during public comment to pass out his map and ask the board to add the stop. Kapoor says that board members Don Knabe and Huizar both spoke in favor of the idea, and agreed to study it.

This morning, Kapoor got an email from Metro.

Mr. Kapoor,

At the April 23, 2009 Board meeting, you made a request to have a stop installed at Central Avenue on Line 720. This location met the Rapid service warrant criteria and will be added effective Sunday, May 10, 2009.

That should be good news to Yxta Cocina and workers at the American Apparel factory nearby.

As for Kapoor, this isn't the end of his transit plans. "Now my next battle is for expanded weekend and night service + 10 bus only lanes to connect Greater LA," he wrote in an email today.

A photo of LA in springtime

Orange Line extension to force Valley businesses to relocate

Orange Line extension to force Valley businesses to relocate - LA Daily News

Orange Line extension to force Valley businesses to relocate
By Sue Doyle, Staff Writer
Updated: 05/04/2009 06:47:32 PM PDT

Bob Jacobi, left, and his father Charles Jacobi stand along the area they would loose to the busway expansion.

Plans to extend the Orange Line a few miles up Canoga Avenue to the Chatsworth Metrolink Station requires uprooting scores of businesses along the street. The businesses have leases with the MTA and have long been put on notice about the plans.

In this case, the MTA wants to take 24 feet of Bob Jacobi's lot. Jacobi says that could run his business into the ground, because it takes away precious storage area for his boulders, brick and other materials. He said it's not like he can stack up boulders in another area, because they are so heavy.

His businesses was started by his dad Charles and has been at that location for 50 years. (Dean Musgrove/Staff Photographer)





CANOGA PARK - For 50 years, Jacobi Building Materials has sold tons of stone, stacks of brick and 60 varieties of landscaping pebbles to contractors and do-it-yourselfers.

But plans for a four-mile extension of the Orange Line busway to Chatsworth could shave a 24-foot-wide strip off the Jacobi lot at Vanowen Street and Canoga Avenue.

Aside from eliminating the land where Jacobi stores its heavy inventory, the $225 million busway will also force about 60 businesses - used-car lots, landscaping companies and metal supply stores - to relocate from the land they lease from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

"When there are so many places going out of business either on their own or through the economy, why should the government get involved in removing more businesses?" said Bob Jacobi, who owns the shop with his 87-year-old father, Charles. "They may think that's not what they're doing, but they are."

Metro has held several community meetings on its plans to link the busway from Warner Center to the Chatsworth Metrolink station. Six months ago, it notified dozens of businesses along the east side of the industrial corridor that it would be terminating their leases.

However, the agency has analysts scouting the area for appropriate rental properties, said Thurman Hodges, of the Metro real estate department.

Hodges said Metro is paying moving expenses for 13 businesses along the right-of-way that have long-term leases
and also is paying the difference in their new rental rates.

"We realize how difficult it is for businesses to relocate," Hodges said.

Ground is scheduled to be broken in June for the busway, with completion expected by 2013. The project include a $28 million bridge that will span Lassen Street and the railroad tracks before terminating in the Metrolink parking lot.

Many business owners complain that relocating now will further hurt a bottom line that has been weakened
Green Light Auto Dealer at the corner of Canoga Ave. and Roscoe Blvd. in Canoga Park.

Plans to extend the Orange Line a few miles up Canoga Avenue to the Chatsworth Metrolink Station requires uprooting scores of businesses along the street. The businesses have leases with the MTA and have long been put on notice about the plans. (Dean Musgrove/Staff Photographer)
by the recession.

Several have found that rental costs for new locations are much higher than they're paying now. And they fear the move will drive away customers who know today exactly where to find them to buy their tires, sinks and shrubs.

Stuart Waldman, president of the Valley Industry and Commerce Association, said it's unfortunate that some businesses are directly in the path of the proposed busway.

But he said the expanded busway will help hundreds of Valley businesses by increasing transportation options for their staff.

"It's important to get your workforce around on transportation systems," Waldman said. "And this adds a benefit."

Scott Cohen, who for 14 years has owned the green-painted Green Scene at Vanowen and Canoga, said the move in June will come at the start of his busiest season - when customers are shopping for sprinklers, gazebos and outdoor lighting.

"The timing couldn't be worse," said Cohen, who has not yet found a new location.

Down the street, general manager Steven Jones is preparing to relocate his truck-rental company S.T. Rent-It Inc., and Canoga Imports, where 50 used cars from Jaguars to Nissans are for sale.

Jones said Metro has provided listings for new sites, but that the prices are too high and the lots too small.

"It's going to have a devastating effect on our business," Jones said.

Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Los Angeles County Development Corp., said relocating companies - especially in retail - causes significant business disruptions. But, like Waldman, he noted that the busway expansion also provides a much-needed transportation amenity for the Valley.

"No matter where they put the extension, there would be complaints about where they put it," Kyser said.

Metro spokesman Dave Sotero said tenants along the planned busway alignment have known for years about the project.

Sotero said that although the expansion project occurs during bad economic times, it's expected to spur scores of construction jobs, a boon to out-of-work Valley residents.

"We are in difficult economic times," Sotero said. "But this project will create jobs and opportunities."

Damien Newton gives a summary and commentary on a talk given by Metro CEO, Art Leahy

Streetsblog » Leahy Outlines His Vision for Metro at Calpirg Conference

Monday, May 4, 2009 No Comments
Leahy Outlines His Vision for Metro at Calpirg Conference

by Damien Newton on May 4, 2009


There were a lot of highlights from last Friday's "21st Century Transportation for Los Angeles" conference sponsored by CalPIRG, but many of them will require more research before I can write a full story on them. From Asm. Mike Eng's channeling of Gavin Newsom when he declared that the 710 Tunneling Project is going to happen "whether we like it or not" to a discussion of pedi-cabs downtown, there was a lot of interesting discussion.

But when new Metro CEO Art Leahy stepped to the microphone, it provided the first chance for me to get a measure of Leahy and his vision for Metro.

If Leahy is as progressive as his speech, the news is good. Leahy, who if you missed the press release or haven't spoken to anyone working at Metro recently, is the son of red car drivers and began his career as a bus driver himself. He's been around long enough to have taken transit to a Dodger game, and not on the city's free shuttle last year.

While he wasn't able to give details on a lot of specifics, after all he's been on the job for less than a month, he pledged that public outreach was the most important part of a project design. In response to a question about Metro crossings, he replied, "We want to know potential issues...we'd rather work with you for solutions you believe in rather than muscle you over."

Leahy also argued forcefully that the state and federal governments need to be more forthcoming to help the agency push back against fare hikes and service cuts. When asked to outline his top priorities they were to pass and implement the Long Range Plan, operate an efficient and on-time transit service in order to not lose the trust of the public that entrusted them with Measure R and other taxes and to "get to" Pelosi and Boxer the message that we need support for operations, not just building new rail lines.

Now, pretty much every transportation advocate I know has had their heart broken by a politician or bureaucrat who hasn't matched their rhetoric; but Leahy's most promising answer was about his personal habits rather than policy.

When questioned by the Bike Coalition's Dorothy Le about his vision for cyclists and pedestrians, Leahy demanded a transportation system which makes it easier to move about Downtown and in their communities. Then he added a personal anecdote about his first days at Metro.

Leahy had a meeting with L.A. Mayor and Metro Board Chair Antonio Villaraigosa at City Hall. When Leahy was informed that his car was waiting downstairs he responded that "No, I can walk to Downtown. I'm not taking a car a couple of blocks." Whether Leahy was aware of it or not, former Metro boss Roger Snoble took a beating on some blogs for his willingness to take a car to destinations that were transit accesible or within easy walking distance.

So, let's say I'm cautiously optimistic about Leahy. Combining his speech with a later statement by the Bus Rider's Union's Francisca Porchas that we need to increase operating funds for "bus and rail" and the future for Metro is looking bright.

Stimulus money divided and put into project up north and into CA bullet train

Bay Area scores transportation stimulus cash - San Francisco Business Times:

Bay Area scores transportation stimulus cash
San Francisco Business Times - by Eric Young
divided

California has committed more than $234 million to transportation projects around the Bay Area, the first wave of stimulus act cash coming to the region for infrastructure work.

The money will go toward a range of local projects, most of which are designed to renovate existing thoroughfares. But the largest chunk of money — more than $192 million — will go toward boring the fourth passageway in the Caldecott Tunnel, which connects Alameda and Contra Costa counties along Highway 24.

The money coming to the nine-county Bay Area is part of more than $1 billion in stimulus cash that has been marked for 80 transportation infrastructure projects around the state.

California worked quickly to distribute money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Monday. The federal government gave states 120 days to decide how to spend the first half of their transportation funding, but California has allocated its funding in less than 60 days, the Republican governor said.

California expects to receive nearly $2.6 billion from the federal stimulus package to fix highways and streets and another $1 billion for transit projects. State officials said they expect to get a “major share” of $8 billion set aside nationally for high-speed and intercity passenger rail.

California plans to build a bullet-train system that would link the Bay Area to southern California. The state has almost $10 billion in money approved by voters last year and a designated route.

A complete list of projects getting initial transportation funding can be found here.

eyoung@bizjournals.com / (415) 288-4969

Union Station turns 70 and a brief look at its past.

blogdowntown: Union Station Celebrates 70 Years

Union Station Celebrates 70 Years
By Eric Richardson
Published: Monday, May 04, 2009, at 10:24AM

Union Station 70th Press Conference Eric Richardson [Flickr]

Metro CEO Art Leahy talks about his first job at Metro, driving a bus line that terminated at a then-empty Union Station.

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles' Union Station opened seventy years ago, but speakers at a morning press conference honoring the occasion said that the station is today more vibrant than ever.

"What a fantastic job everyone has done to get Union Station to where it is today," said Councilman Jose Huizar. "We are not only walking down history when we walk in there, but we are planning for the future."

"This is one of the great buildings in the United States," said Councilman Tom LaBonge, who organized the morning event.

The station officially opened with a three-day event held May 3 - 5, 1939. The festivities attracted 1.5 million people, and included a parade that featured steam locomotives running up Main street.

It was the culmination of a long process. The Chamber of Commerce had appointed a committee to study a joint station in 1905, hoping to replace the three separate stations run by the Southern Pacific, Union Pacific and Santa Fe railroads. The three fought the idea for nearly thirty years, with cases going all the way to the Supreme Court.

In 1933 the railroads finally relented, and a ceremonial first stake was driven into the ground in September of that year.

Ironically, the project was almost derailed by the Postal Service. Plans to locate the "working postoffice" on land intended for passenger parking generated a public outcry, but the Postal Service continued in its efforts to acquire the space. That created a two year period in which work was virtually stalled, with a compromise finally being reached in 1936.

When it opened, the $11,000,000 station served sixty trains and roughly 7,000 passengers daily. That number pales in comparison to passenger counts today, with the station serving as a hub for Metro rail service, Metrolink commuter trains, Amtrak and numerous bus lines.

Huizar praised station owner Catellus Development for its stewardship of the station. "They are not only returning it to its previous glory, but offering modern solutions to transportation needs of today," said Huizar.

The station looks to get even more crowded next month, when Metro's new Eastside Gold Line enters service. Farther in the future, the station is planned as the L.A. terminal for proposed high-speed rail service to the Bay Area.

Those who love the rails may wish to make their way to the station this Saturday, May 9, for National Train Day. Festivities feature performances by Chana and Matt Costa, and displays of historic rail equipment.

Photographic update on Eastside extention of the Gold Line

LA Eastside » Eastside Extension Coming Along

Eastside Extension Coming Along

by EL CHAVO!



Throughout the line, it seems like the stations are getting closer to completion. You can’t tell from this pic but those info signs at the Pico/Aliso station are lit up and they read “Mariachi Plaza, next stop” or something to that effect.



For some of us, Downtown (aka El Centro) lies west. East of Downtown = the Eastside. Really, not too hard a concept to understand. Unless yer some newbie to the city with a limited sense of geography.



One odd sign I’ve already noticed: the Eastside extension is a Southbound train! I’m sure this makes sense if you consider the part of the Gold line to Pasadena that goes North/South, but “Southbound to East Los Angeles” still seems a bit illogical.



Speaking of lack of logic, check out this google map which places East LA right in the middle of Mt. Washington. (Thanks to reader Graham for pointing this out!)

The high-speed rail project will be hundreds of miles. There may be one NIMBYism per mile of rail laid.

www.sfexaminer.com >> Local >> Local News - San Francisco News - Bay Area News - High-speed rail opposition picks up speed

High-speed rail opposition picks up speed
By: Will Reisman

04/29/09 8:00 PM
‘A great idea, if done properly’: Palo Alto City Council member Larry Klein stands at the Caltrain crossing at Churchill and Alma streets, pointing out homes that would have to be moved for high-speed rail.

They backed the funding of high-speed rail, but as plans emerge for the system, Peninsula residents are starting to question the fine print beneath that historic decision.

Just six months ago, a strong majority of Peninsula voters — 61 percent — supported a statewide measure to pledge $9.95 billion for the development of a high-speed rail system in California.

The promise of the $45 billion project is a state-of-the-art train that will whisk passengers from Los Angeles to San Francisco in two hours and 40 minutes. The proposed system is projected to carry 94 million passengers annually by the year 2030, according to the California High Speed Rail Authority.

Next month, a lawsuit challenging the rail system’s planned routing between Fresno and San Francisco will go before a Sacramento judge.

Menlo Park and Atherton are plaintiffs in the lawsuit. Earlier this month, Palo Alto voted to back the lawsuit by filing a friend-of-the-court brief that outlines its shared objection to the project and preference that it run through the East Bay instead.

The high-speed rail route in the Peninsula will follow existing commuter train tracks, according to an agreement Caltrain approved with the California High Speed Rail Authority on April 2. Specific details on whether the high-speed train would run above, below or next to Caltrain won’t be clarified for another 9 to 12 months, but it is certain that the existing trackway that Caltrain uses between San Francisco and San Jose would have to be expanded greatly. The trackway for high-speed rail would also have to be either raised or lowered to prevent any crossings with streets.

The possibility of towering retaining walls and elevated platforms creating barriers in communities is what pushed the cities to pursue a lawsuit against the state’s high-speed rail agency. Several rail watchdogs, including the Palo Alto-based Bay Rail Alliance, are also plaintiffs.

“The more we’ve gotten into it, the more we think the procedures determining the route were flawed,” Palo Alto City Council member Larry Klein said. “We think high-speed rail is a great idea, if done properly.”

If the lawsuit — which asks that the court rescind the decision to move the route through the Peninsula in order to conduct further environmental review — is successful, it would be disastrous for the progress of high-speed rail, according to Ron Diridon, chairman of the CHSRA.

“This would set the timetable back two to three years for high-speed rail, and probably cost another $3 million,” he said. “We wouldn’t be eligible for federal stimulus funds, and we wouldn’t be able to spend the state bond money until the study was completed.”

In addition to the cities that are party to the lawsuit, other communities and officials on the Peninsula have expressed concern about the possible negative effects of the high-speed rail route.

“When the bond issue passed in November everyone here was real excited,” said Redwood City Mayor Rosanne Foust. “But like they say, the devil is in the details, and when it became clear that this could be a reality, we realized there needed to be a whole lot of community dialogue to discuss how this would affect our city.”

State Assemblyman Jerry Hill said the key issue for Peninsula cities is ensuring that high-speed rail doesn’t create a divide.

“You want to avoid creating a scar down the middle of the community,” Hill said. “We want to be real careful that there is no
socio-geographic distinction to being on one side of the tracks.”

Some Peninsula cities want the system to run underground, an alternative that would likely be more expensive, according to Tony Daniels, project manager for the California High Speed Rail Authority.

Syed Murtuza, Burlingame’s public works director, said elevated train tracks would decrease property values of nearby homes, and the constant whirring of trains could be seen as a nuisance.

“It’s questionable if the county’s residents knew enough information about the high-speed rail before they voted,” Murtuza said.

Menlo Park resident Martin Engel has been an outspoken critic of plans for high-speed rail.

“Our home values will absolutely plummet with the prospect of 200 trains a day going by outside,” he said. “While we speculate about what could happen, they’re not telling us anything about what their plans are.”

To such criticism, Diridon counters that the California High Speed Rail Authority held countless public meetings with the Peninsula before the November vote. He said community concerns are currently being carefully weighed.

The development of high-speed rail in California would bring countless benefits to the state, Diridon said. The system would decrease noise and air pollution from cars and airplanes, bring jobs and free the state from reliability on foreign oil.
Many rail-route decisions remain to be made

On April 2, Caltrain and the California High Speed Rail Authority entered into a memorandum of understanding to work together on bringing the proposed rail system through the Peninsula.

Entering into a right-of-way agreement with Caltrain prevents the High Speed Rail Authority from having to buy costly — and rare — tracts of undeveloped land in the Peninsula, according to Christine Dunn, spokeswoman for Caltrain.

In turn, Caltrain is expected to get funding revenue from the high speed rail agency that would benefit capital improvement projects, notably the electrification of Caltrain’s trackway, Dunn said.

While the two sides are working toward the right-of-way agreement, nothing is set in stone yet, said CHSRA board member Rod Diridon. If the rail authority’s environmental review studies indicate that underground tunnels would be the best route for the system, then a contract agreement with Caltrain would likely be unnecessary, he said.
Peninsula stations undecided

The plans for California’s high speed rail system include a maximum of 22 stations spread across the state.

A station in Millbrae — home to existing BART and Caltrain stops — is likely; a second planned depot on the Peninsula is still up for grabs, according to Diridon.

Officials are considering a stop in either Redwood City or Palo Alto — if either city wants it.

“They have to show interest and enthusiasm in rezoning and infrastructure issues that would be necessary to house a station,” said Diridon.

Palo Alto, however, joined a lawsuit earlier this month that questions whether the high-speed rail authority made the right decision in choosing the Peninsula instead of the East Bay for the system’s path.

Redwood City mayor Rosanne Foust said her community needs more information before it is willing to consider the idea of hosting a stop on the high-speed rail route.

“Overall for the state, high-speed rail brings tremendous opportunities, but what would the benefits be for a stop in Redwood City?” Foust asked. “We don’t know yet if this would be an economic advantage.”
Funding flows from federal, state sources

A $9.95 billion bond approved by California voters in November, along with $3 billion to $4 billion potentially coming in federal stimulus funds, is helping move the state’s $45 billion project along its track.

The first phase of the project, which will incrementally build up high-speed rail corridors to eventually connect Los Angeles with San Francisco, is projected to cost about $33 billion, according to Quentin Kopp, chairman of the California High Speed Rail Authority.

Earlier this year, President Barack Obama announced $8 billion in federal stimulus funds would be dedicated to high-speed rail. No region in the country has a plan as advanced as California’s, so the state is hoping to get somewhere between $2.9 billion and $3.9 billion of that funding, Kopp said.

The federal government will release criteria for the funding this summer, according to Kopp.

The state’s high-speed-rail agency is also counting on $6.5 billion to $7.5 billion to come from private equity, Kopp said. Federal grants should amount to between $12 billion to $16 billion, and local and regional funding is projected to be $2 billion to $3 billion.

“We feel very confident about our funding approach,” Kopp said.

Rapid Transit

Projected travel times for journeys on the proposed high-speed rail system:

* Burbank to San Francisco: Under 2 hours 35 minutes
* San Jose to Los Angeles: 2 hours 21 minutes
* Sacramento to Los Angeles: 2 hours 17 minutes
* S.F. to San Jose: 30 minutes
* Riverside to Los Angeles: 33 minutes
* Bakersfield to Los Angeles: Less than 1 hour
* Ontario to San Diego: Less than 1 hour
* Fresno to San Francisco Airport: Just over an hour

Source: California High Speed Rail Authority

California express

Details of the proposed statewide high-speed rail system:

800
Miles of proposed system

88-117 million
Passengers projected annually for the entire system by 2030

160,000
Construction-related jobs projected to plan, design and build the system

Source: California High Speed Rail Authority

wreisman@sfexaminer.com

How to save money on child birth in a lean economy: get instructions to deliver your child via a youtube video

BBC NEWS | Technology | YouTube helps man deliver baby

YouTube helps man deliver baby
Advertisement

Marc Stephens watches an internet video to help deliver his wife's baby

An engineer in Cornwall delivered his baby son after watching an instructional video on YouTube.

Marc Stephens watched the videos as a precaution when his wife Jo started to feel some discomfort.

Four hours later, his wife went into labour and started giving birth before an ambulance could arrive at their home in Redruth.

"I Googled how to deliver a baby, watched a few videos and basically swotted up," Mr Stephens told the BBC.

Jo Stephens said they had planned a home birth, but not quite in this manner.

"I woke up and realised I was having contractions every five minutes," Mrs Stephens said. 

"I woke Marc up and we phoned the midwife, but they were all so busy they couldn't come round to our house and told us to call an ambulance. But before it arrived, it all started."

Preparation

A few hours earlier, Mr Stephens has been reading up on home births and how to cope with anything unexpected.

"The videos gave me peace of mind. I think I would have coped, but watching videos made things much easier."

YouTube screen shot
One of the videos was called 'How to deliver a baby in a car'

Mr Stephens said his wife was on all fours when he saw the head starting to come out.

"This is our fourth child now and while for our first I spent most of the time at my wife's head, now I'm not afraid to go down to the business end.

"I was still on the phone to the midwife and told her that 'this is it'," he said.

Mr Stephens said he felt no panic, putting his ability to stay calm down to his Royal Navy training.

After delivering the 5lbs 5oz boy, Gabriel, the Stephens went to the Royal Cornwall Hospital at Treliske, where both mother and baby got a clean bill of health.

Stimulus money helps push 10/605 interchange project start date up

10/605 freeway interchange project could start ahead of schedule - Whittier Daily News

10/605 freeway interchange project could start ahead of schedule
By Ben Baeder, Staff Writer
Posted: 05/01/2009 10:14:38 PM PDT

BALDWIN PARK - A complete overhaul of the 10/605 freeway interchange could start a year earlier than expected, a top Caltrans official said this week.

Stimulus money and a new law to streamline freeway projects could help get the project started as early as 2010, said Doug Failing, Caltrans District 7 director.

The interchange is known for its short, weaving sections, which bring motorists to a standstill during even moderate traffic. It's so curvy and crowded, a few local engineers call it "Autotopia" after the Disneyland ride.

It is also known for causing big rig trucks to tip, because the weaving sections are too short, according to civil engineers.

A proposal to create a new interchange received
An overtured big rig blocks all lanes on the 10 Freeway east near the 605 Freeway onramp in El Monte on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2008. (SGVN/Staff photo by Watchara Phomicinda) $70 million in state funding in 2007 and was slated to begin in 2011. Now, Failing hopes construction will start even sooner.

"We're looking at that project to see if we can help accelerate it," he said.

Failing has been busy cobbling together stimulus money and other funds for Los Angeles-area projects, he said. Although the 10/605 interchange did not get any of the $625 million in stimulus funding, Caltrans now has more time and resources to get the project going, he said.

"Now that we have a chance to catch our breath, we're going to take another look (at speeding up the process)," he said.

The convergence of the highways was designed in 1964 and was supposed to accommodate population growth until 1984. Even though it's about 25 years overdue for an update, no major changes have been undertaken since it was built.

An average of 438,000 cars use the interchange each day, making it the 19th-busiest in the state, according to Caltrans.

Although Failing said getting the project started early is not a sure thing, it looks more likely now than it has in the past.

ben.baeder@sgvn.com

(626) 962-8811, Ext. 2230

No station for Barstow? on the DesertXpress....

California High Speed Rail Blog: Barstow Bypass?

Friday, May 1, 2009
Barstow Bypass?

by Robert Cruickshank

One of the, shall we say, "interesting" features of the Draft EIS for the DesertXpress HSR project is a lack of a station in Barstow. As revealed at Wednesday night's scoping meeting in Barstow, this has locals rather upset:

During a public comment session in Barstow Wednesday night on a proposed high-speed rail line that would run from Victorville to Las Vegas, city officials and residents remained critical of the project’s lack of plans for a stop in Barstow and the potential for the route to encroach on development in the city’s industrial park....

Barstow’s City Council unanimously voted at a special meeting Tuesday to approve written comments that criticize the environmental document for failing to analyze placement of a station or maintenance facility in Barstow. The comments also highlighted the potential impacts on development from a proposed route that would cross diagonally through the Barstow Industrial Park.


The article explains some of the back-and-forth between Barstow and DesertXpress - DX claims the city didn't get in touch with them until too late in the EIS process; Barstow claims DX had heard their concerns but never followed up on them.

As pretty much the only major settlement between the edge of the SoCal megalopolis (in this case, Victorville) and Vegas, Barstow probably deserves a stop. It could add riders from the Central Valley and the SF Bay Area - if I were driving to Vegas and had an option of parking in Barstow and riding a train the rest of the way I'd probably take it, and I suspect many others would as well.

Not everyone in Barstow is sure about the HSR concept, however:

Other commenters questioned whether the train project would be viable and whether it would really relieve congestion on Interstate 15, when people would still need to drive up the Cajon Pass from the Los Angeles Basin in order to board the train in Victorville.
“(Californians) love their cars, and they’re not going to let them go to come to Victorville to go to Vegas,” said Barstow resident Carmen Hernandez, who also sits on the city’s Planning Commission.


Ah, the "Californians love their cars" canard. Whenever a viable alternative has been given to them - subways, light rail, commuter rail - Californians have proven over and over again that they will take it. California's "love affair" with the automobile more closely resembles an arranged marriage. I love driving through Big Sur as much as the next person, but give me a train to SF or LA or Vegas any day over driving there.

I also wonder if Hernandez and others are concerned about the impact of a train on Barstow businesses. Barstow has always existed as a waystation for travelers. First for the transcontinental railroads, and then for folks driving to Vegas. Most of the city budget comes from sales taxes on traveler spending.

Still, if Vegas HSR is going to happen, it'll be on the DesertXpress model, and Barstow would do well to get in on the action. DX should include a study of a Barstow stop, and the city should unite around the steel-wheel HSR solution and quit daydreaming of a maglev train that is NEVER going to be built.

committing $13 billion in stimulus and budget funds to high-speed train travel is giving many projects a critical boost.

Clearing the track for high-speed rail | MNN - Mother Nature Network

Clearing the track for high-speed rail
Stimulus billions are getting U.S. high-speed rail back on track, but a nationwide network is still decades away, DOT chief says.
By Pete Engardio, BusinessWeek
Thu, Apr 30 2009 at 12:01 PM EST
Read more: MASS TRANSIT, TRAIN & RAIL

SILVER BULLET: A high-speed train travels through China's Shandong province in March. Asian and European countries are far ahead of the United States in developing such high-speed passenger rail service. (Photo: ZUMA Press)
It may be old hat in Europe and Asia to rocket through the landscape on a 200-plus-mile-an-hour train. But in America, all that promoters of high-speed passenger rail service have to show for three decades of effort are dusty feasibility studies stretching from Florida to California.

Yet by committing $13 billion in stimulus and budget funds to high-speed train travel to reduce traffic congestion and cut pollution, the Obama administration is giving these projects a critical boost. A priority is a line that would whiz passengers 520 miles from Anaheim to San Francisco in less than three hours and upgrades of Amtrak service in New England and the Midwest to reach speeds of up to 150 mph. "This is the first time a U.S. administration has put this high on the agenda and is putting serious money behind it," says G. Lindsay Simmons, a Washington attorney representing the French National Railway, which aspires to manage U.S. transit systems.

Dozens of potential investors, most of them foreign, are interested but wary. They remember all the previous setbacks that undid once-promising projects in places such as Texas and Florida. They're also keenly aware that U.S. government analysts concede that it's impossible to run these hugely expensive networks profitably. That means an eternity of subsidies — and the unending wrath of Republican budget hawks who have repeatedly attacked Amtrak's budget. "We believe deeply that high-speed rail will come to the U.S.," says Yannick Legay, high-speed project policy manager for Alstom, creator of France's fabled TGV, or train a grande vitesse. "But we're still at the beginning of the story."

Despite their caution, executives from Alstom have made three marketing trips to California in recent months to showcase the company's latest technology, which can hit 357 mph in tests. Bullet-train operator Central Japan Railway has formed a 10-person division to develop strategies to bid on U.S. contracts. Foreign manufacturers such as Bombardier, Kawasaki and Siemens, which now assemble transit cars in the U.S., would gladly do the same with high-speed trains to land business.


"As good as it gets"
California is the big test. Voters in November authorized the state to float $9.9 billion in bonds to start construction of the first $33 billion phase. Billions more are expected from Washington. "You can never have 100 percent certainty that a deal will happen, but this is as good as it gets," says David Crane, economic adviser to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

If, however, projects like California's don't begin before the next shift in poltical power, federal funding could again be in jeopardy. Support also must be maintained for the long haul. U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood notes that the interstate highway system, launched in the 1950s, wasn't finished until the early '90s. "We are talking another three decades," he says, "before a national high-speed network becomes a reality."

(Additional reporting provided by Andy Reinhardt in London, Kenji Hall in Tokyo and bureau reports)

Copyright 2009 BusinessWeek
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Comments
Posted By Brian - Sat, May 02 2009 at 10:20 AM EST

Actually operations are profitable

Good news Pete,

High speed rail is very profitable to run. The track cannot be profitably built because it is so expensive (cheaper than a freeway though) and takes so long to pay back. It is similar to airlines and airports that way. Southwest makes money but they couldn't raise the money to build a series of airports. So the local governments build the airports with help from the Feds and charge airlines to use them.

High speed rail will never need operating subsidies if it is real 125 mph+ AVERAGE speed service (180-220 top speed). If we call 90mph top speed "high speed rail" then them THAT may need operating subsidies, but it isn't really high speed rail either.