California High Speed Rail: Just a Brief Construction Update

Hey everybody! Welcome back to another CAHSR video! Today's video will only be covering recent construction progress as my internet has been having some serious issues this week. Feel free to comment down below any suggestions you have for topics you would like me to cover!
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Thanks for dropping by!

[@pineapplepizza27]

seeing progress being made on this project is one of the few things that keeps me sane

[@ChrisJones-gx7fc]

Future video topic: Based on the current rate of progress, the projected timeline for completing the Merced and Bakersfield extensions, and possible future funding available over the next decade or so, what you predict is a realistic timeline for getting HSR beyond the Central Valley to SF and LA. 2039 will be the 100th anniversary of both LA Union Station and the original Transbay Terminal. That should be a reachable goal for the start of SF-LA HSR service, one that both CAHSR and the State of California push for.

[@davidjackson7281]

Were the three tunnel sections to be constructed from 2031-2039 for up to $80 B that would be funding of up to $10 B per year. Plus the SF Transit Center Portal tunnel coming from MTA funding for $8.2 B could be a ten year project. Would be nice if just the $27.9 B Pacheco Pass was done by 2039.

[@AmpereBEEP]

I will definitely have to look into that for a future video!

[@sdsd4139]

2039 odds just dropped, now that Manchin won't be in the Senate

[@michaeljones7927]

@@davidjackson7281 But where is the annual $10b coming from, David? If Trump wins in 2024, there probably won't be any HSR funding for four years? What do you think? California is always going to be in jeopardy, whether it's 2024 or 2034. Only state funding can bring the HSR project to fruition, regardless of the time frame.

[@davidjackson7281]

@@michaeljones7927Should CAHSR receive this year's $3 B FRA grant request then there will be enough funding until 2029 when the term expires. Other grant requests could be made next year before any election changes. I agree state funding is more likely than fed money. Were CAHSR to get the cap and trade funding extended beyond 2030 then the project could continue, albeit slowly. My indirect point about up to $10 B yearly was that was why funding made 2029 unlikely for phase one completion. l wish annual construction was $3 B with the feds contributing a third. That would speed up the project for completion in 25-30 years. There is still $50 B left of the $66 B FRA funding. After that, regardless of partisan politics, more fed funding for passenger railroad infrastructure projects may have stronger public support, as time goes by...

[@TohaBgood2]

Thanks for the update, dude! Awesome work, as usual!

[@mrxman581]

Thanks for this short update.

[@yappofloyd1905]

Good brief update

[@AmpereBEEP]

Thank you!

[@TheRailwayDrone]

Thank you so much for the update. Great to see construction moving along.

[@AmpereBEEP]

You are absolutely welcome! I am always excited to see all of the progress that happens on this project.

[@TheRailwayDrone]

@@AmpereBEEP You and me both. Next year, I plan on flying out there each quarter to get some drone footage of the construction.

[@KcarlMarXs]

Truly wish we had 15,000 workers rather than 1500....

[@Alejandro-vn2si]

Please, make a video about BART'S second transbay tube!

[@AmpereBEEP]

I will definitely be covering that!

[@davidjackson7281]

How is BART going to rationalize getting a 2nd tube when ridersihip is down 60% due to remote work, extreme crime, filthy stations and cars, plus loitering homeless bums? BART is already failing at attempting to draw riders with an unfinished $12 B 6 mile San Jose extention. Bart does not connect to the transbay termnal either. What a waste.

[@Alejandro-vn2si]

@davidjackson7281 OK, firstly, they are in the planning stages of the second transbay tube. We might either see first BART to Silicon Valley Phase II completed or at the same time as the second transbay tube. So, we are in a lot of years since we actually see the second connection between SF and East Bay. Also, remember that VTA is paying for the project, not BART, so BART has fiscal responsibility as Santa Clara is not part of the Bay Area Rapid Transit District. The second thing is that traffic in the Bay Area has already recovered from prepandemic levels, so it's a matter of time that people move once again to BART. Another thing to remember is that the transbay tube is meant to relieve pressure from the traffic of the bay bridge. Building another bridge currently is not a possibility, and even if it was, it would take many more years to just getting actually built (assuming we find enough funding). So, BART, once again, will help the bay not collapse, but that doesn't mean the pre-pandemic ridership is not going to come. BART already carries more than 180,000 people per weekday and is expected to increase as traffic on freeways increases. Work from the office is not something we know how it's going to affect Transit since we don't know how companies would react in a recession. Currently, companies don't seem very friendly to WFH. Also, with public pressure, BART is increasingly becoming cleaner, and there is more police on trains. Hopefully, BART can continue in the future such trend since that would lead to more ridership. Also, the second trnasbay tube plans have in mind a future connection to the salesforce(or transbay) transit center. But, overall, the bay area would collapse if those 180,000 individuals all sudden start using their car at the same time. It's something everyone would notice easily and we at any cost should prevent that. So, that's another reason why we should build it.

[@Urbanhandyman]

@@Alejandro-vn2si The second transbay tube is a dream. IF it happens it will be several decades from now before it's completed. 2050 at the earliest.

[@anthonysnyder1152]

@@davidjackson7281link21 is also exploring commuter rail services and use the train box in the transit center that CAHSR and Caltrain will be using. Currently there’s no way for those services to cross the bay at the moment. I expect the current 2040 opening date is going to be pushed to 2050 with a much scaled back plan as the bay takes 5-10 years to recover from COVID. But like you can imagine the year 2050 when the region completes major transit projects. Proposed plans to extend bart to Geary/19th, link 21, muni to presidio, CAHSR to LA etc will remove thousands of cars from the road onto fully electric systems with high capacity. Allowing for population to grow without more car congestion

[@ehoops31]

I’m new here. It’s hard to know where in the picture to look. Can you add an arrow or something?

[@brianr4054]

Where are you getting that imagery?

[@AmpereBEEP]

SentinelHub Playground provides unlimited imagery, but what I showed off today for the comparisons is from EOS Landviewer.

[@yj-yuanjun]

my comments are being eaten and they arent showing up 😔

[@AmpereBEEP]

KZbin has been having issues with that sometimes it seems.

[@nesman]

Man I really want to see construction at a fast pace rather than this snails pace.

[@michlo3393]

There is so much negativity surrounding this project. I think the issue is complex. First, since this country absolutely LOVES to take a shit on California at every chance they get, anything affiliated with the state is complete communist, crime-ridden, homelessness-enabling crap. And second, everyone is so smitten with the turd in a fancy paint job, still slower than everyone else, band-aide called Brightline, and acts like it was a gift from our ancestors from the year 3000. That is NOT proper high-speed rail, which is what California is trying to build. Um YEAH, it's taking a long time and YEAH it's expensive. What did everyone expect? Capital projects like a from-scratch, proprietary High-Speed Rail network are MASSIVE undertakings. That's not to say CHSR has been a flawless endeavor, but all in all, it's necessary, worth the effort and will be one of the few decent things we'll have done for the future generations after us.

[@SacTownLions0]

I heard in 10 to 15 years we will able to take train from Modesto to Bakersfield. Can't wait.

[@ScramJett]

I think that’s optimistic

[@mattc3696]

California should pass a1% sales tax to pay for it. Trouble is, no one feels they need to pay for it.

[@davidjackson7281]

Sales taxes are regressive and hurt the poor. Perhaps a modest vehicle mileage tax would be a bit more fair.

[@mattc3696]

@@davidjackson7281 That would also hurt the poor, working class.

[@vanstry]

No one is going to use it. So why should they be taxed even more than they already are for a project that is a total failure?

[@davidjackson7281]

@@mattc3696Agree. How about only an electric vehicle milage tax and extending cap and trade funding beyond 2030?

[@randyTrevor-fs3to]

This is why everyone is leaving Cali.

[@floycewhite6991]

Don't see what it will accomplish that commuter air and short-hop inter-city air can't do.

[@AmpereBEEP]

Short-hop air isn't available for the majority of these destinations in the Central Valley with the exception of Fresno, where you CAN, but it is exorbitantly expensive to do so. I personally have flown to Fresno, and it is not worth it over just driving on cost alone. HSR is the only option here that can outcompete flying and driving. LA-Fresno is a 3hr drive without traffic and SF-Fresno is also a 3hr drive without traffic. Flying might save you at best 60-75min each way but would cost you upwards of $150-200. Compare that to the ~6-12 gallons of gas which at current prices would set you back between $29 and $57 each way depending on your fuel economy. There is a market for faster travel times at proportionally higher ticket prices, and HSR would immediately put any routes flying to these destinations out of business just on operating expenses alone. People would simply take the train to SFO or LAX and save hundreds.

[@laker6943]

I met a couple last week from Vancouver that spent 4 days in San Francisco recently. They said every morning when they walked out the front door of their hotel it smelled like human waste. So when they finish this boondoggle you will be able to get there much quicker and enjoy the stench.😢

[@Da__goat]

Ah yes the good old “Extort Montana’s tax paying residents to pay for this boondoggle, Electric Boogaloo”

[@michlo3393]

You don't have to live in the US, feel free to move.

[@AmpereBEEP]

Montana receives more from the federal government than it pays in taxes, while California receives less than it pays in taxes. With that logic, "Extorting California's tax paying residents to pay for the mismanagement of other states" would be a more accurate statement.

[@AmpereBEEP]

@@artandarchitecture6399 To make it a bit clearer, that was what my intent was when I wrote that(Montana collectively rather than the just the State itself).

[@JackKack-kk5dd]

Lol. Montana has just over 1 million people in the entire state. California has almost 40 million. You really don't want to get into a pissing match of who contributes more

[@paulthewall4764]

I sincerely hope that what has been accomplished so far is abandoned and left as a monument to incredibly bad government. Personally, I’m shocked that anyone can find value in this massive mistake, yet you have a thousand plus subscribers.

[@KcarlMarXs]

Yes, the famously abandoned and useless high speed rail😂

[@mattc3696]

Graffiti canvases and homeless overpasses.

[@quadcorelatte8217]

This is such an anti-American sentiment. You want America to suffer. Most other developed, and even developing nations have HSR. Why? Because it’s useful; it’s the cheapest, safest, least harmful, and most efficient way to connect people in many cases.

[@ProfitSlim]

Bro is upset the HSR isn't a boat.

[@michaelburt1663]

This rolling disaster has no longer any support. It’s going to take political guts to put it out of its misery.

[@justasimpleguy7211]

It's a boondoggle. A huge waste a taxpayer dollars. Hey, but California doesn't have anything more pressing spend taxpayer dollars on. This is a virtue project for those with luxury beliefs.

[@sdsd4139]

The point of CAHSR is that it's cheaper than the alternative. Projected growth in travel requires building new runways at SFO, LAX and Oakland, plus extra lanes on I-5. All of that will cost $200 billion easily. CAHSR allows intrastate travel to shift to rail, avoiding those expensive expansions.

[@interstellarphred]

pales in comparison to what is wasted on weapons, many of which was a right wing welfare program.

[@davidjackson7281]

@@sdsd4139l am 199% for CAHSR but the ridership projections are grossly inflated. The reasons are numerous. Stagnant population growth, remote work and inconvenient connectivity to name a few.

[@ChristopherORourke-s7g]

A true & real boondoggle is the 2 1/2 trillion dollars that Buffoon Biden gave to Iran in aid, the 320 billion total dollars given to Ukraine by none other than Buffoon Biden, minting the useless penny, printing up several government forms that will never be used those are true & real boondoggles.

[@KcarlMarXs]

A good way to waste more money is to not properly fund the project