Vote Yes on Prop 1A for High-Speed Rail

[bananas]

Run time: 01:00 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGGyxW-rTz8   Posted on YouTube: October 28, 2008 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: November 01, 2008 By DU Member: bananas Views on DU: 454

 
CALPIRG students encourage you to vote yes for high-speed rail in California!
www.calpirgstudents.org

[Taverner]

1. I WANT FAST-ASS BULLET TRAINS LIKE THE FRENCH!

Serious!

[dubeskin]

2. I voted No

I guess my reasoning behind it was that I didn't feel it's necessary right now. It has a HUGE price tag on it, and frankly, it's a luxury we don't need to be working with right now, especially with our huge debt. Likewise, we have a fine train system now, that operates, and while the speed maybe a little less than this project, it's tolerable.

Ultimately, I think this will be something we should revisit in a few years, maybe after our debt is a little less and the rail system needs to be changed. But right now, it's too expensive, and it's unnecessary.

[Clovis Sangrail]

5. you obviously live in N Ca.. cause the train system in S Ca is anything but 'fine'

sure there are a few things now, but they only work for a pretty small audience.
I don't live down there anymore but last I looked there were a couple trains a day headed *from* Chatsworth *to* downtown in the morning and a couple coming back at night.
Hardly a workable commuting solution for the vast majority of people.

Trains in the bay/delta area are light years better than S Ca as far as usefulness... and they're not that great when compared with the east coast.

Have you ever taken a train from SF to LA?
It costs the same as an airline ticket but takes 10-12 hours.
You can drive it in 5 hours and do it for less money... although the associated pollution will ultimately cost the state more.

I think you're right that this might not be the right time to sink tons of money into the project but they can at least get it going.
Not doing anything is just encouraging people to make the drive.

Due to a family crisis a few years back I was making that round trip a couple of times a month... and I can tell you a LOT of people drive up and down the state.

[dubeskin]

9. Yes, I do live in N.Cal

And the Amtrak is fine up here, which I guess could be why there's a difference in opinion. I guess a large part of the vote will come down to people who use the train a lot and those in favor of large infrastructure projects vs. those who rarely/never use the train or don't want to see a huge amount of money go to it.

[bananas]

6. This will help the economy

As Paul Krugman recently wrote,

"And this is also a good time to engage in some serious infrastructure spending, which the country badly needs in any case. The usual argument against public works as economic stimulus is that they take too long: by the time you get around to repairing that bridge and upgrading that rail line, the slump is over and the stimulus isn’t needed. Well, that argument has no force now, since the chances that this slump will be over anytime soon are virtually nil. So let’s get those projects rolling."

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/17/opinion/17krugman.html?ref=opinion

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

3. I also voted no

I don't have trouble getting to San Francisco, I have trouble getting to downtown Los Angeles.

[bananas]

7. Orange County to Los Angeles and San Diego is included in the plan

LA to SF is just the first part.

[JimWis]

4. We eventually need high speed rail all over this country. And for

all the reasons mentioned in the video. We are behind alot of countries in this. Thanks for sharing.

[paulkienitz]

8. I voted NO because it's stupid to fund anything with bonds in this credit crisis

I voted no on all bond measures. Who's going to even buy those bonds except at ruinous rates?