High Speed Rail

Next Thursday the California High Speed Rail Authority is holding its monthly meeting in the Board Room at the Metro Headquarters Building adjacent to Union Station beginning at 10 a.m. The agenda is now posted online.

As a long-time observer of the California high speed rail project who advocated in favor of the 2008 bond, to me one interesting recent trend is that the original hotbed of support (the Central Valley) of late has become much more skeptical and critical. Some of that is due to the dynamics of large projects -- early on excitement holds sway whereas when construction begins to approach folks begin to confront the downside impacts of such ventures, causing a backlash. And frankly, until recently, I think it can be fairly said the Authority's outreach and handling of politically sensitive aspects has been less than stellar.

It's no surprise that CALPIRG is a strong supporter of High Speed Rail for California.  While the rest of L.A. County was holding their breath on the L.A. County transit tax ballot proposition known as Measure R in 2008, CALPIRG was more concerned with a state bonding proposition that would set aside billions for the California High Speed Rail Project.

One of the three complaints I hear most often about L.A. Streetsblog's coverage is that we "don't cover High Speed Rail" enough. Truth be told, there's so many issues and projects happening locally that I haven't had time to really dive into the issue, look at all the complexities impacting California's project, and have anything really new to say outside of what is in the newspapers, radio, etc...

Thanks to Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s head-smacker of a decision to refuse billions in federal high-speed rail funds, other parts of the country are getting a windfall. Even with $400 million of Florida’s money vanishing in the name of deficit reduction, the remaining $2 billion will go a long way in improving rail service in key areas around the country.

Just when we thought transportation had gotten off relatively easy in the shutdown-aversion budget deal:

Vincent Kartheiser, who plays Pete Campbell on the hit series "Mad Men", and Rich Sommer, who plays Harry Crane, have teamed up with U.S. PIRG to make a video about high-speed rail. In it, Campbell suggests an ad campaign for trains, which Crane finds ridiculous -- trains make so much sense; why would you need to sell them? It ends with a call to action.

As Damien has noted the California High Speed Rail Autjority is coming to L.A. this week, specifically to the Metro Board Room (3rd floor of the Taj Mahal, as some of us like to call the Metro Headquarters Building). Wednesday afternoon its Executive/Administrative Committee is meeting at 1 p.m., followed by the Finance Committee at 2 p.m. and the Operations Committee at 3:30 p.m.