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Re: Citylab Deconstructs the Caltrain Mess
Author: mook
Date: 03-01-2017 - 20:33
PB was heavily involved with BART. The construction consortium was PBQD (Parsons Brinckerhoff/Quade/Douglas). Prior to that, there was a planning/design consortium for BART of Parsons Brinckerhoff, Tudor, and Bechtel (PBTB). AFAIK Bechtel isn't directly involved with CAHSR, though PB definitely has been.
As noted in the story and elsewhere, while the Repubs in Congress are claiming this is a strike against CASHR, it really just wrecks Caltrain's plans which are separately justified. As the story notes, CAHSR can continue working for for a long time without more federal funds - loss of Caltrain electrification would be an inconvenience but not a project killer. So it wrecks a well-justified project to fix up commutes on the Peninsula and in Silicon Valley but doesn't bother the alleged target. All sorts of conspiracy theories could be spun out of that.
I did have to chuckle, though, at the SPUR study linked from the story. While it has some interesting ideas, it's kind of out there overall.
As noted in the story and elsewhere, while the Repubs in Congress are claiming this is a strike against CASHR, it really just wrecks Caltrain's plans which are separately justified. As the story notes, CAHSR can continue working for for a long time without more federal funds - loss of Caltrain electrification would be an inconvenience but not a project killer. So it wrecks a well-justified project to fix up commutes on the Peninsula and in Silicon Valley but doesn't bother the alleged target. All sorts of conspiracy theories could be spun out of that.
I did have to chuckle, though, at the SPUR study linked from the story. While it has some interesting ideas, it's kind of out there overall.
