Also the many gambling casinos on Indian reservations in California must have reduced the amount of passenger traffic to Reno for that purpose.

The amount of urban sprawl northeast of Sacramento (Rio Linda, Roseville, Lincoln, etc.) is really striking - check it out on Google Earth. There is even a new freeway bypass under construction west of Lincoln. The new subdivisions probably won't generate much through traffic to the Bay Area for a Capitol extension, but maybe commuter rail to Sacramento?