Together with Barack Obama’s election into the White House, Californians approved Proposal 1A. The proposition allocates $9.95 billion to the California High-Speed Rail Authority. Of that $9.95 billion, $9 billion will be used to construct the core segments of the rail line from San Francisco to the Los Angeles area and the rest will be spent on improvements to local railroad systems, which will connect locations away from the high-speed rail mainline to the high-speed system. Travelling time from SF to LA will be reduced to some two and a half hours and it is far more sustainable than car or plane.
However, the project still requires federal matching funds, since a $9.95 billion bond issue only covers at most half of the estimated cost of the initial core segment. But don’t we all agree that Obama needs some ‘lighthouse projects’? And wouldn’t this be a great one? In the mean time, watch some amazing animations on the nc3d.com website, a 3D visualization consulting firm specializing in transportation, architecture and urban design projects.
