By Sara Nydam|Staff Writer|
The California High- Speed Rail will be a disadvantage to your everyday life if it is built.
The construction of this “bullet train” that will travel from Los Angeles to San Francisco is and has been under consideration for many decades.
I believe that the building of this high-speed rail has too many cons that outweigh its pros that will directly affect every driver in California including you, your family and friends.
Controversy continuously surrounds the building of the California High-Speed Rail and I think rightfully so. “California has already cut $3.4 billion from existing transit services and upgrades throughout the state,” reports fourstory.org.
I think this shows that we do not need to add another cost by constructing this new rail. This is a terrifying idea because California does not have the money to spend on existing transit services currently in place.
It is counter-intuitive to spend millions of dollars on this high- speed rail which may not be easily accessible to all Californians.
The smarter solution here seems to be to provide funds for local transit lines, which would be beneficial to more Californians, rather than the construction of the high-speed rail that only a small portion of residents will be able to use.
Another issue with accessibility affects those drivers who will not be able to utilize the high speed rail. If the railroad is built there is no telling whether or not it will affect our local railways and roads.
“Once the high speed railway is installed the nearest crossing might be a quarter of a mile away,” which will take time and money in gas to avoid the new rail, continues fourstory.org.
Personally, I would not be happy if I had to leave even earlier each day in order to dodge the inaccessible high- speed rail.
“I believe it would be beneficial for business people, but not for students,” said student Jenni Frank. “Waiting to build it will also take a long time.”
I agree with her statement; it may be high- speed to those who live in Los Angeles or San Francisco but it would still waste over an hour of time in traffic for students of CSUSB to drive to Los Angeles.
The future of the project is unscertain, but if the high- speed rail is built its future is not promising. “The financial experts said that the plan will pencil out only if the California bullet train operates far more efficiently than any high-speed rail system in the world,” reports The Huffington Post.
I believe that it will not. California will not break even nor see any profit from the high- speed rail proving that it will not be beneficial for California as a state.
Projected costs are about 10 cents a passenger per mile while the projected cost of the train to carry one passenger per mile is about 43 cents, reports The Huffington Post.
In reality the “bullet train” is not a practical plan for California and neither is the June 15th deadline for decision. Therefore, I believe plans for this should be postponed until finalized benefits have been released to Californians.