The California High-Speed Rail Authority approved the Train to Nowhere, a plan to build the first leg of the high-speed rail line from a small town to no town. I suppose you have to start somewhere, but given the likelihood that the state won’t get any more federal funds, this seems like an exercise in folly.
Meanwhile, emails revealed that Curt Pringle, the chair of the California High-Speed Rail Authority (and mayor of Anaheim), thinks that the authority’s engineers are incompetent. “I do not think that the engineers working on the Anaheim to LA segment are capable of doing the work,” wrote Pringle last January. They “don’t live in the real world.”
Pringle was upset that CHSRA staff want to build Anaheim’s train station in the parking lot of Anaheim Stadium, home of the California Angels. “This stupid idea” would alienate the Angels, who just might pack up and move, suggested Pringle. “This borders on complete incompetence.” (Was this a problem with engineers, or with planners?)
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Perhaps not coincidentally, California Attorney General (and governor-elect) Jerry Brown charges that Pringle and at least one other member of the CHSRA have a conflict of interest because they serve on other transportation boards–in Pringle’s case, the board of the Orange County Transportation Authority. One of the other board members with an alleged conflict, Richard Katz, resigned from the CHSRA board two weeks ago, though it wasn’t clear whether he resigned because of the conflict or because he could see the handwriting on the wall. Katz is on the board of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which is planning to build new rail lines. He is very excited about those new rail lines, he said, and “I’m not willing to risk all that for high-speed rail.”
Of course, if you agree with Paul Krugman that the only thing that counts is to spend lots of money to create jobs, it doesn’t matter if the train goes nowhere, if the agency is run by people with conflicts of interest, or if the line is designed by incompetent planners. All that counts is that you spend the money. After all, even incompetent engineers and planners need jobs.
I wonder if the California high speed rail will run into problems with its environmental impact statement for illegally segmenting the project into a small subset while the whole rationale of the project requires that much more of it be built.
Here is how to spend the money more effectively:
Hire 10,000 people to dig a giant trench.
Hire 10,000 more people to fill it in.
This plan will create 20,000 jobs, but unlike passenger rail, the waste will stop when the last hole is filled in. And unlike passenger rail, it will not create an ongoing burden on our society and its children.
Thank
JK
“I wonder if the California high speed rail will run into problems with its environmental impact statement for illegally segmenting the project into a small subset while the whole rationale of the project requires that much more of it be built.”
Great point. With the scale of most of the proposed lines I’m thinking there is going to be plenty opportunities for opponents to litigate, the EIS being a huge catalyst.
“Pringle was upset that CHSRA staff want to build Anaheim’s train station in the parking lot of Anaheim Stadium, home of the California Angels. “This stupid idea†would alienate the Angels, who just might pack up and move, suggested Pringle. “This borders on complete incompetence.†(Was this a problem with engineers, or with planners?)”
We’ve been dealing with a similar situation here in Austin. There have been plans for a streetcar line that connects the airport, downtown, the new commuter rail station, UT, and the old airport redevelopment site. A big contentious issue is the downtown and UT portion of the plan. Through downtown the plan is to run the streetcar through the parking district for the State offices (affectionately known as the black hole of Austin) which has no commercial, residential or industrial density for about 6 square blocks. At UT, the idea is to bring the streetcar past the football stadium and athletic complex which has very little density with the exception of 6 times a year (they’ll probably have to shut the train down on game day. Whisper quite, high-dollar, at-grade trains + 120k brisket-filled drunken football maniacs = bad news).
Many planners, planning students/faculty, urban designers and engineers have advocated for an alternative route that would take the streetcar through the heart of downtown (the site of the historic/decommissioned streetcar) and through a major thoroughfare on campus (mostly closed to auto traffic) with high densities of students and educational buildings. Politics within CapMetro, the State of Texas, and the UT Board of Regents have made the rational ideas of the planners and engineers obsolete (Maybe this is the difference between CA and TX?).
They are not just incompetent, they are frauds and morons. JimKarlock’s comment is right on. At least when you dig a ditch and re-fill it, the waste and fraud stops with the last shovel-full of dirt. With “high” speed rail, the fraud and waste will continue in perpetuity. I’m sure this doesn’t bother Dan, Fraudman (Highwayman), Andrew, or Jardinero1, the resident planning/high speed rail trolls one bit, however.
metrosucks:
“I’m sure this doesn’t bother Dan, Fraudman (Highwayman), Andrew, or Jardinero1, the resident planning/high speed rail trolls one bit, however.”
As an engineer, it bothers me immensely.
Unfortunately, talented people in the industry are too rare and too valuable to be assigned long term to large projects. They are only made available for initial preliminary design work and high priority conflict resolution during final design and construction.
Large projects are instead used to hide drones who need to be kept billable less they impact the bottom line.
It doesn’t bother you at all. Your reasons are total babble with no perspective. What large projects? Are you implying you’re talented at anything? You are not; you’re just a liberal imbecile who hates freedom and mobility and wishes for a dystopian world of high speed rail and light rail.
metrosucks,
After reading your comments in yesterday’s and today’s posts, I’m convinced that you are the Jeckel to the highwayman’s Hyde. You are an autoimmune disease of the conservative bloggosphere. Honestly, I’m not sure you are a real person, possibly just a character cooked up by a regular commenter. That, or you have set a new precedence of idiotic and distasteful engagement on this blog.
I’m sure this doesn’t bother Dan…one bit, however…liberal imbecile who hates freedom and mobility and wishes for a dystopian world of high speed rail and light rail.
Nothing like making sh– up to have something to write. IME such people – one clown short of a circus – cannot be embarrassed by such behavior.
One can only hope they are a parody character and not a real person.
DS
metrosucks:
“It doesn’t bother you at all. Your reasons are total babble with no perspective.”
Ad hominem is the first resort of men with small minds and nothing useful to add to a discussion or argument.
“What large projects?”
Recently based on personal experience, the Big Dig, East Side Access, California High Speed Rail, ARC, etc.
“Are you implying you’re talented at anything? You are not;”
Well, my company certainly seems to think so from the way they pay me.
“you’re just a liberal imbecile who hates freedom and mobility and wishes for a dystopian world of high speed rail and light rail.”
As I said about ad hominem above.
I don’t think you know anything about me at all. I’m very much in favor of freedom and mobility and the removal of the dead hand of government control from transportation as much as possible.
The lifeblood of the free enterprise system are privately controlled systems of interstate commerce and travel for the movement of people and the trade of goods.
metrosucks is the new highwayman. his comments are nonsensical and low wattage. love the name calling, especially calling others a troll; take a look at his posting history and tell me metrosucks isn’t a troll.
oh, and nice user name. that must have taken a lot of deep though and reflection to generate.
add another spam bot to the ignore list.
JimKarlock said:
Here is how to spend the money more effectively:
Hire 10,000 people to dig a giant trench.
Hire 10,000 more people to fill it in.
THWM: Why not just build obelisks for Koch Oil instead?
JK: This plan will create 20,000 jobs, but unlike passenger rail, the waste will stop when the last hole is filled in. And unlike passenger rail, it will not create an ongoing burden on our society and its children.
THWM: Though at least passenger rail has practical every day aplications for every body.
Any ways Karlock, just keep looking out for that Bolivian naval invasion.
Frank said:
metrosucks is the new highwayman. his comments are nonsensical and low wattage. love the name calling, especially calling others a troll; take a look at his posting history and tell me metrosucks isn’t a troll.
oh, and nice user name. that must have taken a lot of deep though and reflection to generate.
add another spam bot to the ignore list.
THWM: What ever, Koch Oil is paying for this “blog” no matter what gets posted here.
re: metrosucks. I’m just thinking aloud here, but you know how “Andy” is the fictional Anti-Dan. Could metrosucks be a fictional Anti-highwayman. I’ve just never seen somebody call another person a liar in regards to a narrative description of personal experience on this blog before. This rudeness has to be contrived… right?
Read his comments with this “fictional” scenario in mind and try not to laugh.
I just feel that many of the commentators on this blog are high speed rail/light rail shills. I don’t mind calling them out as such. Regardless of the costs, potential benefits, or negatives, you will find that these individuals are largely in favor of any rail plan.
Just because highways and roads receive a small subsidy does not mean that passenger rail should receive a much larger subsidy, but that is what passes for logic here. After the overwhelmingly negative experience with various forms of rail in this country, anyone still in favor of these dubious plans could only be described as stupid or a shill.
Regardless of a sockpuppet being an ‘Anti-X’, Frank’s ‘ignorage’ point is good advice.
DS
I was wondering where the planning troll (“we need to look at the so and so study to ensure this makes 200% sense, but it’s safe to say it’s rail and therefore good) had gone. You will never hear Dan say that any rail plan is a bad idea, no matter how ludicrous or subsidy dependent it is. Same goes for his buddies here. They might have a problem or two with the implementation of the particular delusion being discussed, but the fundamentals are always considered sound.