SeeCalifornia.com

Photo: A conceptual drawing of the proposed high-speed bullet train between San Francisco, Fresno, Los Angeles & San Diego.

San Francisco has BART (bart.gov), Los Angeles has Metro (metro.net), San Diego has Coaster & Sprinter (transit.511sd.com), Sacramento has a regional light rail transit system (sacrt.com), and Fresno has Amtrak (amtrak.com).   What if the biggest cities in California could connect via high-speed trains? Would Californians give up their cars and go on the  “bullet”?

That’s the $60-120 billion dollar question. And so far, the California High Speed Rail Authority (cahighspeedrail.ca.gov) has experienced a few bumps, grinds, and green lights–but no firm commitment to becoming a reality. Governor Jerry Brown is putting his endorsement behind a plan to keep the U.S. from becoming a Third World Country and believes the bullet train could do it.  Like any project of this magnitude, the concept has its detractors, skeptics, and those who see opportunity in being involved.

Brown believes the rail line will be cheaper than roads and airports in the long run and will transform Central California, connecting Fresno and other cities in the Central Valley to all of California. He has likened the project to epic undertakings such as the Panama Canal and says that California has to think big–like Lincoln did when the transcontinental railroad was constructed during the Civil War. Meanwhile, the State auditor warned that financing is increasingly risky–$12.5 billion has been secured for a rail line stretching from Los Angeles to San Francisco, the auditor said, but the entire project could end up costing $117.6 billion. Few argue that California’s decaying roads and interstates between its major cities are adding hundreds of thousands of more cars each year, with no plan in sight to provide relief as traffic routinely comes to a halt during busy commute times.

In China, a high-speed train collision last year brought into question safety issues in what was described as a design flaw that allowed one train to collide with another stalled on a track after being struck by lightning. However, China is pushing forward with the newest Sword train which goes over 300 miles per hour and is the world leader in high-speed train transportation.