Texas Transit Association

HIGH-SPEED RAIL AT CROSSROADS DAVIS WANTS PROJECT UNDER STATE CONTROL; BILL SEEKS NEW AGENCY

It’ll be a prominent piece of the 2004 state ballot: Do you support a nearly $10 billion bond initiative for a bullet train that promises to zip passengers throughout the state at 220 mph?

Modesto Bee March 2, 2003

But more than a year and half before the question of high-speed rail will be put to California voters, the project is at a crossroads.

Under a money-saving proposal by Gov. Davis, the independent authority that has steered high-speed rail since 1996 would be placed under the state transportation department, a move some rail advocates warn would bury the project in an agency that specializes in highways, not railways.

In response, state Sen. Dean Florez, D-Shafter, introduced a bill that would create a new agency to oversee high-speed rail and take over all state-funded passenger rail lines, such as the San Joaquin route from Sacramento to Bakersfield, now managed by the California Department of Transportation.

The result is a tug-of-war in the state Capitol that insiders say will determine the fate of California’s bullet train.

“The question is, ‘Are you willing to give $9 billion-plus to Caltrans to build high-speed rail?’ I think the answer to that question is an absolute ‘no,’” Florez said.

Last week, Florez said he was willing to drop his proposal if the governor abandoned his plans for Caltrans to absorb the rail authority. Florez said any disruptions in the current plan would create costly delays and weaken the ballot proposal.

“This is the wrong place and the wrong time for any changes,” he said.

DAVIS STICKING BY HIS PROPOSAL

Florez’s announcement came after the High-Speed Rail Authority Board decided to take no position on his bill during a Tuesday meeting in Los Angeles. Board members said creating a new rail agency would be distracting, and would itself create delays.

A spokeswoman with the governor’s office said Davis would not back away from his proposal, which would save about $600,000 from the salaries and benefits of the authority’s staff members.

For years, high-speed rail in California has been limited to discussion and conceptual drawings, with Davis referring to it in 1999 as a “Buck Rogers idea.” But five months ago, the project took a big step toward reality when legislators voted to put the bond measure on the November 2004 ballot.

The $9.95 billion would pay for the first leg of the line, a 400-mile stretch from San Francisco to Los Angeles. Rail officials said the trip could be made in 21/2 hours, comparable to a plane flight.

Modesto and much of the Northern San Joaquin Valley would not be a part of the initial high-speed leg. A tentative route map shows a Pacheco Pass link between the Bay Area and Central Valley.

Revenue from that first leg would be used to extend the line northeast to Sacramento and south to San Diego. The total cost is estimated at $26 billion, the heftiest price tag ever for a public works project in California.

An environmental impact report is scheduled to wrap up in August and groundbreaking could begin as early as 2005.

Under Davis’ plan, Caltrans would absorb three of the rail authority’s five staff members. The nine-member board would become merely an advisory board.

So far, authority chairman Rod Diridon has tried to stay out of the fray, praising Caltrans Director Jeff Morales for the agency’s recent emphasis on rail, but also warning that disruptions could lead to costly delays.

He said even a one-year delay would cost $1.25 billion more.

“If Jeff is going to be there for the next 30 years, I’d say, ‘Whoopee! We’ve got a great partner,’” Diridon said. “But he’s only going to be there for three more years. We’ve got to think about an institutional structure that will be effective for the life of the project.”

Others have been more direct in their criticism of Caltrans, pointing out that the agency has lost control of rail lines three times in the past due to shoddy management.

The Capitol Corridor route between Sacramento and the Bay Area, for example, is now one of the fastest-growing lines in the nation. But it languished under Caltrans, only taking off after the Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority took control in 1999.

Since then, the number of round trips has increased from three to 11. Caltrans still provides funding for the route.

IS RAIL TOO MUCH FOR CALTRANS?

Richard Silver, executive director of the Rail Passenger Association of California, said that despite improvements in rail policy, Caltrans is still primarily a highway department and high-speed rail will inevitably get lost in the shuffle.

“As much as we praise Jeff Morales, unfortunately and regrettably, there’s still a lot of dry rot in the department from previous administrations,” Silver said.

But others say that while the criticism may be well-deserved, it mostly belongs to previous Caltrans regimes.

“These are 20-year-old issues,” said Caltrans spokesman Dennis Trujillo. “We are well-suited to perform this function. We have the skills, knowledge and capability to deliver any project we’re asked to deliver.”

The new Caltrans, Trujillo said, has invested $700 million toward passenger rail over the last four years — far more than any other state. And the three passenger lines that receive Caltrans backing — the Capitols, San Joaquins and Pacific Surfliners — have all expanded under the current administration.

And Caltrans has backing from another rail-riders’ group, the state’s Train Riders Association of California, mainly because the group sees it as the lesser of two evils when compared to the high-speed rail authority.