CA High-speed rail on the ballot

from today's San Francisco Chronicle (9/11):

High-speed rail plan a key ballot measure
Michael Cabanatuan, Chronicle Staff Writer
Thursday, September 11, 2008

"(09-10) 17:00 PDT -- Californians will decide in November whether to make a hefty down payment on a flashy new ride that's swift, sleek and already popular in Europe and Asia.

Proposition 1A on the Nov. 4 ballot would authorize the sale of $9.95 billion in bonds to help start construction of an 800-mile high-speed rail network that would send electric trains zipping between Northern and Southern California at up to 220 mph.

A trip from the Transbay Terminal in downtown San Francisco and Los Angeles Union Station would take about 2 1/2 hours, according to the state High Speed Rail Authority, and would cost about $55 one way. There would be stops on the Peninsula and in the South Bay.

The system would be the largest public works project in California history - bigger than the California Aqueduct - and would cost $32 billion for the main line between San Francisco and Los Angeles and an additional $10 billion to complete the network by adding extensions to San Diego, Sacramento and Riverside County. The state is banking on getting about a third of the construction budget from state taxpayers, a third from the federal government and a third from private investors." ...

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