BOB2 Wrote:
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> One of my best friend did the first LAUPT run
> through study in 1996, it called for up to 8 total
> run through tracks. The time savings to travelers
> and operating costs paid for the around (IIRC?)
> six hundred million dollar many time over for a
> 100 year lifespan used as the cost benefit
> horizon.
>
> Later based on the six track configuration, I
> worked with a foreign outfit who built had built a
> number of investor financed public private
> projects like HSR,toll roads, and tunnels in
> Europe. That was around 2004, and they were ready
> to finance a "lease back' finance, design, build
> run through porject based on a lease back based
> upon only half of the net operating savigns to
> operator that the project would generate, with the
> travel time savings to the then estimated 100,000
> daily riders that it could accomodate thrown in
> for "free"...
>
> This firm was also interested in building the 710
> tunnel under South Pasadena. They looked at the
> high desert corridor from Victorville to I-5 at
> the Grapevine. And, they even an extension of the
> 118 under Saugus Mountain from the 210 to the 14,
> in a toll tunnel with a leased lower level for the
> HSR connection They proposed and we analyzed all
> of those project and the run-through at LAUPT, as
> projects which could be profitably built with
> investor financing, based on expected toll
> revenues, on a fifty year private/public franchise
> agreements, with the projects reverting to the
> "gubmint" (aka "we the people") at the end of the
> franchise concessions.
>
> Unfortunately, we don't know how to steal for
> politicians and contractors in CA without the
> "change order" racket (remember that was back
> before the CAHSRA showed us how to steal using
> the "change orders" combined with the "gold
> plated' design racket to increase the amount of
> "waste, fraud, and abuse"...).
>
> Therefore, the thought that private firms taking
> the risk and building infrastructure for a firm
> fixed price, using private investor funding,
> without the typical change order racket, with the
> unlimited cost overruns, approved by politicians,
> and the hundreds of additional tickets to the
> political fundraisers that would be sold, was
> unthinkable to our State Legislature... Heresy
> BOB2, letting the "evil" capitalist's build and
> profit from something like that...
>
> MTA has turned into a giant contract steering
> racket, and incorporated the "gold plated" design
> practices, with outrageous 1.5 billion dollar
> people movers to sports stadiums, at Oahu LRT
> costs per mile... MTA is mismanaged and cannot
> control costs or manage projects efficiently. MTA
> cannot even run the projects they've built
> properly these days. Of course, part of Union
> Station run-through debacle is the failure and
> unwillingness to provide the promised funding,
> since they've spent it all on the gold plated
> fiasco from Chowchilla to Wasco on cost overruns.
>
>
> As to the increase to 2 billion for four tracks,
> instead of the $950 million estimate of 2020,
> reflects some real inflation, and a lot of
> "greedflation" by wired contractors who don't
> really have to compete as hard, in a system that
> takes political contributions from our "gubmmint"
> contractors... And now, down to a two track
> runthrough configuration, two thirds of the
> operating and travel time savings, that would have
> generated a net savings to pay for it, is lost.
> Heckuva job MTA!
>
> So yeah.... With MTA letting the project become a
> total clusterf#k, and the Olympics coming in just
> four years... It is probably time to PANIC...
>
> MTA has become more proof that these days we all
> do really have the "best gubmint" that money can
> buy..."

Phil is doing a heck of a job now that he moved up his title and STILL NO STINKING TRACKS RUNNING THROUGH (JAN 16, 2024) AT LAUPT!

Let's take a look at what you wrote NOV 23,2020 :

"Author: BOB2
Date: 11-23-2020 - 09:50

DoubleTrackWimpBusGuy Wrote:
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> He is "swamp" perfect for D.C.
>
> $425,016 a year in compensation to chase off
> ridership with a laissezfaire s-hole admin
> policy.
I think that there are some upsides for CA with Phil's experience. He did finally drive off some really incompetent political managers at LACMTA. He has gotten us LAUPT run through, and does seem to understand how screwed up CAHSRA is, although has wisely not waded into that septic tank... He is not beholden to certain NorCal Democratic factions or Senators.... He's ridden a lot of Amtrak, like Biden has.."