Quote:
Originally Posted by jmecklenborg
Also, as is pretty obvious to those familiar with HSR systems around the world, they often directly serve major airports and so enable very easy access to international airports from the hinterlands. California's Central Valley residents will enjoy a 1-seat ride to and from SFO, and getting to LAX will require a few transfers but nevertheless will be doable via public transportation in a way that isn't possible now.
Somehow the fact that the Central Valley is home to 6 million people -- roughly the same as the Bay Area -- continues to be lost in HSR conversations.
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It has been LAWA's (LAX controlling authority) dream to build an international airport in Palmdale since the 1960s. They own over 17,000 acres of land out there, which combined with the 6,000 acres of land already used by Palmdale regional could fit six and a half LAX sized airports to become the single largest airport on the planet. All in a region that wouldn't just not constantly complain about the noise and threaten to sue over every airfield improvement, but would actively seek to promote this as a way to economic prosperity. And yet over the past 50 years they've utterly failed at convincing anyone to drive that far for a flight, even after spending millions subsidizing airlines to offer rock bottom prices in an effort to lure people away from the overcrowded LAX.
And now they'll be a high speed rail line to SF and the Central Valley running on the eastern border of the property, and a high speed rail line to Los Vegas running on the southern border, and at the corner of the property where they meet there will be a regional transit center and a high speed rail line going straight to DTLA. There's a ton of potential synergy between HSR and air travel.
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