eh_brah t1_j9zn4e1 wrote on February 25, 2023 at 7:10 PM

Reply to comment by Randomperson1362 in High-Speed Rail Project Will Create Over 10,000 Jobs in California by gammapsi05

That's flawed thinking, it's not about jobs created, it's about infrastructure value -- jobs are a bonus.

For example, BART only employs 3500 people, yet cost 2B to build. "Oh no it costs 500K per job", but the infrastructure moves 26M people annually and without it the bay traffic would be even more unbearable.

Over 2M people fly annually between LAX and SFO alone, with ground travel magnitudes larger. Yes rail is an expensive project, but the value created would pay itself over multiple times. For example, The SF/Oakland bridge was $6B dollars to build, but they get $800M in tolls per year. ROI potential for these types of infrastructure is huge.

Randomperson1362 t1_j9zndwh wrote on February 25, 2023 at 7:12 PM

This train is also projected to be slower, and more expensive than flying, so all 2 million are not going to switch to the train.

eh_brah t1_j9zvuw0 wrote on February 25, 2023 at 8:09 PM

I didn't say that. I'm merely pointing out that there are a large amount of travel between norcal/socal that can be replaced with a bullet train.

The bullet train will be comparable to a plane ticket and coming in at an estimated $86 each way. A bullet train could take only 3 hours, which beats the 6-7 hour drive and half a day you spend at the airport. TSA, pre-boarding, waiting on the tarmac, enduring your 32" economy legroom, baggage claim, and all the unnecessary overhead.

In any country with a bullet train, telling someone you want to fly to the next major city is usually met with "yeah you could, but why the hell would you do that? Why not take the train?"