[maxuilg]

HSRA hopes to build SF-SJ, LA-Anaheim starter lines in a few years

Published Thursday, November 6, 2008, by the Sacramento Bee

California bullet train's win is first fiscal step

By Tony Bizjak

After a decade stuck in the station, California's bullet train dreams
got a huge boost this week when voters approved Proposition 1A, the
$10 billion construction bond measure.

Supporters hailed the vote as putting California at the forefront
nationally on alternative transportation.

Bullet trains, they say, will allow travelers to speed from the
north state to the south in nearly two hours at 200 miles per hour
-- bypassing congested airports and freeways.

"The people of California are smart enough to realize we need to
invest in our future," High Speed Rail Authority executive Mehdi
Morshed said. "Despite the economic bad news, they are thinking
beyond today."

Not everyone is on board, a vote analysis shows.

The narrow victory was led by voters in areas where trains are
expected to arrive first -- San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles,
and Central Valley areas eager for the economic growth the trains
are predicted to bring.

But a majority in Sacramento and San Diego opposed the measure,
as did voters in El Dorado, Placer and outlying counties.

Sacramento and San Diego are scheduled to be part of a second-phase
expansion of high-speed rail, after an initial line is built between
the Bay Area and Los Angeles.

Rail advocates acknowledge bullet trains are unlikely to reach
Sacramento and San Diego for another 15 years, and not unless trains
on the initial segment earn enough money to finance expansion.

Morshed said his agency hopes to begin building medium-speed starter
lines between San Francisco and San Jose, and between Los Angeles and
Anaheim in the next few years.

Those lines get first priority, he said, because local agencies --
Caltrain in the Bay Area and Metrolink in Los Angeles -- signed
agreements to chip in money.

Ultimately, Tuesday's $10 billion bond measure is expected to pay
for less than one-quarter of the 800-mile system's cost. The rest of
the funds are expected to come from federal grants, local matching
funds and private-sector investors.

Morshed said he expects the full system to be done by 2025.

Opponents, lead by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, argue
the train plan is ill-conceived and point out the state has yet to
update its 8-year-old business plan, as required by law.

"It is mind-boggling, with the budget crisis, that people would vote
for this without there being a business plan," Jarvis group head
Jonathan Coupal said.

Bullet train campaign officials said the plan is due out Friday,
but it won't contain anything of note that hasn't already been made
public.

Train campaign officials ran $1 million worth of radio ads promoting
the system as more than just a transportation tool.

"We knew people were concerned about congestion, air pollution, about
oil dependence, and concerned about jobs," spokesman Greg Larsen
said. "The high speed train responds to each of those concerns."

Kevin Powers, 22, a recent UC Davis graduate, said he voted for the
rail system, citing environmental concerns among other reasons.

"State population is going to grow to 50 million," he said. "What
we have isn't going to work."

Wayne Steving, 65, of Rancho Murieta, voted against the train.

"It's too high of a cost at this time," he said. "We need it, but
we just don't have any money. We're broke."

High-speed rail agency executive Morshed said the state will now
seek federal funding to help on the initial segments, and will work
on securing right-of-way.