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Re: California gets 300 Million for high speed rail.
Author: Erik H.
Date: 05-09-2011 - 20:14
Anthony G. Wrote:
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> Are we printing funny money for this high speed rail
> system or is it real money?
What money is real? Of course this is all debt.
We can't fund proper local transit systems to get people to/from work, doctors' appointments and the grocery store, but we can somehow fund "high speed" rail...
Here in Oregon, Portland is slashing and dicing bus service - but "high speed rail" is paying for a new roof on Union Station. In Salem, the former Southern Pacific has been fully renovated and the old Salem, Falls City & Western Railroad bridge has been remade into a pedestrian bridge (never mind the existing pedestrian paths on the two bridges immediately to the south), but the city's transit center is condemned and unsafe for fear that the structure could collapse at any moment; good luck catching a bus on the weekend because there isn't any; bus schedules have been significantly reduced. In Albany, good luck trying to catch a bus to Corvallis at train time or on a Sunday before school starts. In Oregon City, the station was purposely located for an Oregon Trail interpretive center - that's closed. But the UP mainline passes within spitting distance of the city's transit center without stopping; the nearest TriMet bus stop is a very long walk from the Amtrak station (and there's no bus service at several of the train times).
In Vancouver...there's no transit from the Amtrak station to downtown Vancouver.
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> Are we printing funny money for this high speed rail
> system or is it real money?
What money is real? Of course this is all debt.
We can't fund proper local transit systems to get people to/from work, doctors' appointments and the grocery store, but we can somehow fund "high speed" rail...
Here in Oregon, Portland is slashing and dicing bus service - but "high speed rail" is paying for a new roof on Union Station. In Salem, the former Southern Pacific has been fully renovated and the old Salem, Falls City & Western Railroad bridge has been remade into a pedestrian bridge (never mind the existing pedestrian paths on the two bridges immediately to the south), but the city's transit center is condemned and unsafe for fear that the structure could collapse at any moment; good luck catching a bus on the weekend because there isn't any; bus schedules have been significantly reduced. In Albany, good luck trying to catch a bus to Corvallis at train time or on a Sunday before school starts. In Oregon City, the station was purposely located for an Oregon Trail interpretive center - that's closed. But the UP mainline passes within spitting distance of the city's transit center without stopping; the nearest TriMet bus stop is a very long walk from the Amtrak station (and there's no bus service at several of the train times).
In Vancouver...there's no transit from the Amtrak station to downtown Vancouver.
