| Dear Letters Editor: How anyone can believe that California High-Speed Rail (HSR) riders will tolerate the time wasted going the circuitous route through Palmdale to Bakersfield or Santa Clarita (130 miles) and another stop rather than a direct route (70 miles) just so Rosamond and Tehachapi residents can plug their ears and watch it go by is beyond me. How anyone can believe that California voters will spend $2.7 billion more (60 miles * $30 billion / 670 miles) for an HSR spur through Palmdale to service our puny population is equally absurd. The only reason the route is suggested is to sucker Antelope Valley residents into voting for the HSR scam. Given the history of government transportation system estimates, you can triple the capital cost, half the annual ridership and reduce the annual revenue by two-thirds. The HSR will never pay for itself, so you can add billions to pay-off the shortfall and billions more in subsidies to keep it running for the few who will use it even at its subsidized rate. Without portal-to-portal transportation convenience, the HSR is an extremely expensive and pathetically slow airplane with zero route flexibility. Furthermore, it's subject to earthquake damage, damage assessment and consequent service suspension. After the ego trip wears off, riders will be back in their automobiles, taxpayers will be stuck with another government "we know better than private enterprise" white elephant, property owners will be stuck with reduced values and surface travelers of all kinds will be stuck with dead ends and lengthy detours thanks to the concrete and steel defecation called a "track." Sincerely, Bill Holmes, Vice Chair Antelope Valley Libertarian Party P.O. Box 3202 Quartz Hill, California 93586 wtholmes@compuserve.com, 661-943-7473 voice/fax http://synergy-enterprises.com/wth.html |
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