Finally, government is giving the people of California what they have demanded: a train from Borden to Corcoran.
Yeah, I have no idea where those cities are either. But $4.15 billion of your tax money will be spent laying track, not from A to B, but from, like, K to three-quarters of the way to L.
Right now I'm in Perpignan, France, where they built more impressive structures during the course of 35 years, in the 13th century, without machines, than the State of California hopes to cobble together in a decade by spending billions of dollars and state-of-the art construction technology. You want a bullet train? Buy French.
France has had a nation-wide bullet train -- the TGV -- for over 20 years. ("TGV" stands for "Tres Grand Vitesse," which means, basically, "very great speed.") It began service on its first leg, Paris to Lyon, in 1981.
I have to believe it would be cheaper to buy French technology than to start from scratch. California hopes to lay track between Borden and Corcoran for $4.15 billion. And get this, from the Los Angeles Times article on the subject: "The initial section, however, will not be equipped with maintenance facilities, locomotives, passenger cars or an electrical system necessary to power high-speed trains."
You read that right: "Train sold separately." Mon Dieux.
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| Perpignan is the stop at the bottom. Coming soon: Barcelona, baby! |
The American love of automobiles and our cheap fuel (by international standards) can be blamed for the general public's complete lack of concern over mass transit here.
ReplyDeleteI just tried to figure out a bus route in Thousand Oaks, Ca and found that there is one bus that makes a circuit through the town and it is over an hour between buses. Pitiful to be sure.
If you want to kindle interest in public transportation in the U.S. then the best thing to do is tack on $4 in tax (to fund mass transit) to every gallon of gas.
It would work overnight.
P.S. The French get so much more for their tax dollars than we do! Free education up through a Doctorate Degree. Free health care. Lifetime pensions. Awesome public transportation system. I guess not having to support the biggest, most expensive, military machine on the planet really does help the average citizen there.
We "protect" the world and get nothing in return.
Actually, the French have their own national defense. They kicked out the last American base in the 1960s. But you are certainly right about the rest of the world. Let them pick up the tab for their own defense -- and let us quit sending troops anywhere, wanted or not, other than our own borders.
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