Saratoga News
Letters & Opinions
We can't wait much longer for high-speed railroad
By the Hon. Rod Diridon Sr.
Every industrialized country in the world either has or is building a high-speed rail system ... except the United States! Indeed, Japan has had HSR for more than 40 years, and Europe for more than 20 years, and both are in compliance with the Kyoto Accords.
After a recent speech to the AsiaRail 2006 Congress in Hong Kong, I was told, firmly, by one of the transportation ministers that China, South Korea, Taiwan, Argentina, South Africa and Mexico--even Vietnam--are building high-speed rail systems. Those countries are acutely aware that the U.S. has less than 4 percent of the world's population, yet creates almost 30 percent of the world's greenhouse gases--and is the only country unwilling to sign the Kyoto Accords.
The most polluting form of travel is a short-hop airline, about the same as an SUV on a seat-mile base. Electrically-powered high- speed rail would give a less expensive, cleaner, quieter, safer and faster downtown-to-downtown alternative, up to about 500 miles, than either airline or auto travel. And some of the scarce air terminal faculties could be reserved for long distance flights for which there are no alternatives.
And an airline might receive the contract to operate the California High-Speed Rail Authority system as is the case with Virgin Air and Lufthansa in Europe. What could be better than to reduce the commuter airline take-off noise and pollution for our neighborhoods while having that management skill applied to our clean and quiet high-speed trains?
In the early 1990s, Congress approved 11 high-speed rail corridors. California, Florida and Texas are progressing toward the true high- speed (more than 150 mph) systems standard of the rest of the world.
Our 750 mile, double-track, 220 mile-per-hour, safe, clean and quiet California HSR proposal has completed the required environmental and engineering studies and has Federal Railroad Administration certification. Routes and station locations for all but the Bay Area to Central Valley connection have been selected. Our portion will be decided by the Northern Mountain Crossing Study, to be reported to the CHSRA Board on April 18 with a decision at mid-year.
Two routes were studied. One is via the Altamont Pass from the Stockton/Tracy area to San Francisco and eventually Oakland and San Jose. The second is via the Pacheco Pass from the Merced area, missing the state parks, and via San Jose to San Francisco and eventually Oakland.
The selected route will have major, positive economic and environmental impact on the station locations that would also tend to cluster growth rather than promote sprawl as do our highways. Projected HSR express time from San Jose to Los Angeles is 2 hours and 3 minutes at $65 per direction--downtown to downtown!
Just as important for affordable housing-seeking Silicon Valley commuters, the travel time via the Pacheco Corridor from Fresno is only 46 minutes while surfing the web, napping or breakfasting in the dining car.
And high-speed rail is super safe. The Japanese and French systems have had not one fatality; that's safer than a sidewalk. Modern security has been perfected throughout the world, is high-tech and rigorous but non-intrusive so does not delay boarding.
Studies by world-class economists Cambridge Systematics indicate that the system will carry between 86 and 117 million passengers and gross between $2.4 billion and $3.7 billion per year with more than 50 percent net after operating and maintenance costs.
But, as with every other high speed line in the world, taxpayers must build the starter line to gain access to that operating revenue which would be invested in the expansions.
The legislature placed a $9.95 billion general obligation (no tax increase) bond on the 2004 ballot to fund the CHSRA project. That proposition was delayed to 2006 and then to November 2008 to clear the way for other measures.
California is expected to pay only $9 billion of the expected $35 billion to $40 billion with the remainder obtained from public-private partnership investments and federally approved, privately subscribed bond programs now in negotiation. That investment creates 450,000 person-years of construction work and stimulates more than 300,000 permanent jobs that can't be off-shored.
But delay is disastrous. Construction inflation averages in excess of 5 percent annually; one year of delay costs almost $2 billion in lost buying power. The 2008 HSR bonds must not be delayed again.
California will double in population from 2000 to 60 million by 2040. The proposed CHSRA project will meet that need and have the added capacity to continue to meet the needs of another 50 years of growth. Yet the full HSR system costs only 40 percent of the highway and airport expansion needed just to meet the 2040 projections.
Become involved. Learn about the project. Help save billions in taxpayers' dollars and build California's high-speed rail system now.
Our children and theirs will thank us for the mobility and for helping to fight global warming when we had the chance. The rest of the world is way ahead of us. Can we catch up?
The Hon. Rod Diridon Sr. is chair emeritus and member of the California High Speed Rail Authority Board, as well as executive director, Mineta Transportation Institute.
