Why the California Bullet Train Project Failed: 7 "Worst Practices"

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Passenger Trains > WaPo: Why US Will Never Have HSR

Date: 02/13/19 08:16
WaPo: Why US Will Never Have HSR
Author: hazegray

A pretty rational, unbiased analysis, despite the click-bait title, IMO.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/02/13/why-united-states-will-never-have-high-speed-rail/


[ Reply To This Message ] [ Quote ]
Date: 02/13/19 10:26
Re: WaPo: Why US Will Never Have HSR
Author: 41bridge

Behind a paywall.

==============
Date: 02/13/19 10:48
Re: WaPo: Why US Will Never Have HSR
Author: goneon66

we are over 21 $$ TRILLION in debt AND the amount of people depending on government services INCREASES daily. can we afford to fund an hsr system?.........

66

==============
Date: 02/13/19 11:04
Re: WaPo: Why US Will Never Have HSR
Author: PRSL-recall

There is an excellent article bearing today's date in Railway Age by Jeff Davis entitled "California HSR: 7 Deadly Mistakes". It explains why this project has been doomed to failure and also why other projects aren't necessarily doomed from inception.

February 13, 2019 High Performance, Intercity, News, Passenger, Regulatory
California HSR: Seven Deadly Mistakes
Written by Jeff Davis

“Real high-speed rail might still make sense in the U.S. in the densely populated Northeast Corridor and among certain high-population city-pairs elsewhere in the U.S. in the ‘sweet spot’ of 250-500 miles apart (too far to drive easily, too short to fly conveniently), if costs can be kept under control,” writes Eno Center for Transportation Senior Fellow and Eno Transportation Weekly Editor Jeff Davis. “But future high-speed rail projects would do well to avoid seven mistakes that have caused the California system to be indefinitely delayed.”

The following was published Feb. 13 on the Eno website. It is re-posted here with permission. The views expressed are those of Jeff Davis and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Eno Center for Transportation:

California Governor Gavin Newsom announcement Feb. 12 that he was curtailing plans to construct a statewide high-speed rail system—instead only completing the Merced to Bakersfield section for which funding is already in hand and construction is under way—leaves a lot of people wondering if the failure of this project in the richest state in the U.S. means that high-speed rail is doomed to failure throughout America.
....

Eno Transportation Weekly
Why the California Bullet Train Project Failed: 7 “Worst Practices”

By Jeff Davis
Senior Fellow and Editor, Eno Transportation Weekly
FRA High-Speed Rail Rail
February 13, 2019

California Governor Gavin Newsom (D)’s announcement yesterday that he was curtailing plans to construct a statewide high-speed rail system – instead only completing the Merced to Bakersfield section for which funding is already in hand and construction is underway – leaves a lot of people wondering if the failure of this project in the richest state in the U.S. means that high-speed rail is doomed to failure throughout America.

However, many of the problems that have led to the apparent failure of the California project are unique and don’t necessarily apply to other projects.

Public policy schools today teach students overseeing large programs or projects to always identify “best practices” that have produced positive results in similar projects or fields. The California high-speed rail project, by contrast, suffered from at least seven identifiable “worst practices.”

{snip}

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

1. I just wish that Joe Biden, who famously commuted

every single day from his home in Delaware to DC when he was a Senator, would go around the country lobbying for high speed rail, and for better train service everywhere in this country.

We should have it between certain city pairs, or in certain parts of the country. And we need more regular passenger trains, more frequency of service, more cities being served throughout the country.

The real problem is that too many Americans will give up their guns sooner than give up their cars. Okay, so I may be overstating this a bit, but the comparison is apt. I know too many people who do live where they could easily take public transportation much of the time but who steadfastly refuse to do so.

Personally, if I ever relocate again, it will be to a metro area with good public transport and I'll give up owning a car.

[msongs]

2. falsely promoted as high speed when in reality local commuter system-- too many stops

on the route and not directly between LA - SF