High-Speed Train Could Keep Travel Clean

A vote for California's Prop 1A would mean a mixture of state, federal, and private funding would go towards constructing a new high-speed train, traveling at speeds of 220 mph from San Diego all the way north to San Francisco. Additional routes would reach locations such as Sacramento, San Jose, Bakersfield, Riverside, and Modesto, to name just a few. The L.A. to San Francisco trip would take a mere 2 hours and 38 minutes (sweet! And no LAX or SFO to deal with). Proponents of the proposition believe the project would create as many as 160,000 new construction jobs and 450,000 new permanent jobs, while taking 92 million vehicle trips off the road every year. They claim greenhouse gases would be reduced by 12 billion pounds a year and our dependence on foreign oil would be decreased by up to 12.7 million barrels a year. Hmm ... sounds good to me, especially as proponents claim no tax increases will be necessary to foot the bill. But I wonder if Californians who don't live in cities on the line, or who have much reason to trek from one half of the state to the other, will consider the train necessary.