Most of the public doesn't know how many millions are in a billion. And unfortunately the media is completely clueless about infrastructure and no high-flying journalist wants to cover state TODs or rail. Those beats are handed off to the interns.
I don't hesitate to blame Gavin Newsom's Presidential ambitions for why the state is not adequately backing the project. The state just ran a series of massive budget surpluses yet Newsom failed to award even 1% of the surpluses to this project.
Newsom never embraced CAHSR. That became immediately apparent when he took office in his first term. Jerry Brown championed its promise, but Newsom has always seen it as a liability and held it at arm's length, at best. He was never going to shovel surplus money into the project.
__________________
Chaos upon my enemies, chaos upon my enemies, chaos upon my enemies.
"Number Numbness" is a real phenomenon, look it up. Politicians, casinos, state lotteries, etc., take advantage of the fact that almost nobody understands large numbers.