
Gavin Newsom abandons SF-to-LA high-speed rail - sndean
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/central-valley-high-speed-rail-merced-bakersfield-13610732.php
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squozzer
>"Merced, Fresno, Bakersfield and communities in between are more dynamic than
people realize. The valley may be known around the world for agriculture but
there's another story ready to be told."

It's been seemingly eons since I last drove through Bakersfield, Fresno, and
Merced, but it seems that if SF - LA can't make economic sense, not sure how
connecting a bunch of agro cities would make more sense.

Yosemite, maybe?

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rospaya
What was the big issue here? It seems extremely expensive but I'm not sure how
connecting two big and wealthy cities by high speed rail can be an issue or
unprofitable.

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gok
Good on Newsom for spending some political capital this. It was a bad idea,
badly executed; the state will be better off for having cancelled it.

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classichasclass
He's not cancelling it, he's calling for a smaller project on the partially
built track from Merced to Bakersfield (there's a fair bit in Fresno County).

As someone who drives greater LA to Sacramento about once a month, based on
the traffic levels on the 99, no one is clamouring for this. The fact he
didn't want to give the $3b+ back to the Feds is just cutting off his nose to
spite his face.

