Forgot what the Propositions were already? Here’s what happened on Tuesday.
>> Measure R: I joked about it, but will I really not see the Subway to the Sea until I’m in my 50s?! Reports the Bottleneck Blog: “Metropolitan Transportation Authority chief Roger Snoble said it may now be possible to extend the line to Fairfax Avenue within six or seven years and the line could get to Westwood in 20 years.” Mayor Villaraigosa says he’ll push to build it faster –
>> Prop 1A: It seems the high-speed rail will be built faster than the Subway to the Sea. According to Wired, the line linking LA to San Francisco could open as early as 2020.
>> Prop 2: A UC Davis Agricultural Issues Center study says treating Cali chickens humanely is unlikely to raise egg prices.
>> With the election safely behind him, Schwarzenegger now wants to raise sales taxes by 1.5 cents per dollar while cutting education, health care and welfare payments. The governator’s proposals are an effort to make up for Cali’s projected $11.2 billion revenue shortfall. Reports the San Francisco Chronicle: “the governor’s proposal was immediately criticized by groups whose programs would be cut as well as by Republican lawmakers who steadfastly refuse to raise taxes.” (via LA Daily)
Photo by FredCamino
a few notes on subway vs high-speed rail
a) Building a subway is always very expensive. It will be especially expensive when building it through an area which has pockets of natural gas and petroleum. (I think Metro now has the tunneling ) Laying track above ground is normally much cheaper, although laying it with the precision needed for safe operation of high-speed trains may add to the cost. (I haven’t looked into that.)
b) The high speed rail will get $9 billion all at once through a bond. (It will need at least $35 billion in private funding to actually pay the full cost of construction.) Measure R only brings in about one billion per year, only a small part of which goes towards the subway.
Comment by Tim Buchheim — November 7, 2008 @ 4:49 pm
Also upper management at Metro is sadly rather incompetent, and advocates for transit will need to play watch dog to make sure things are done right. Federal matching dollars will be critical to getting the subway built in a timely fashion, and hopefully with Obama creating a new office for urban issues, and a democratic majority in both houses, we can get the subway before we’re all retired. Time for transit advocates to counter the highway lobby for a change.
Comment by Gary Kavanagh — November 7, 2008 @ 8:00 pm
Thanks for the info re: the differences between the two rail lines, Tim. Suddenly, Measure R sounds like very little money — though getting it means we have better chance at getting more federal funding, which’ll hopefully be a lot more, yes?
Gary — By upper management, do you mean the Metro board? Or other people?
Comment by Siel — November 11, 2008 @ 10:14 pm