Tradeoffs [Statewide]
I've been a big proponent of high speed rail for a long, long time - but pending cuts to Metrolink (where I live), BART, and the San Diego MTS have me really questioning the tradeoffs involved here.
Imagine a world where option 1 is to continue finding HSR at $1bn annually. Option 2 is to avoid any service cuts or fare increases on BART or the MTS, AND expand Metrolink to 30 minute headways 18 hours/day, 7 days/week. Claude estimates that would cost roughly $750m annually in new subsidy, so you'd have an additional $250m to throw towards Metro and Muni operations, too.
We live in that world. I can't reasonably justify continuing to dump money into Central Valley transit while cutting service and killing expansions in our metro areas. Am I the only liberal who feels this way?