{"id":1565,"date":"2010-01-18T20:56:47","date_gmt":"2010-01-19T04:56:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fogcityjournal.com\/wordpress\/2010\/01\/18\/transbay-terminal-dispute-threatens-federal-funding\/"},"modified":"2020-07-06T05:46:40","modified_gmt":"2020-07-06T13:46:40","slug":"transbay-terminal-dispute-threatens-federal-funding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fogcityjournal.com\/wordpress\/1565\/transbay-terminal-dispute-threatens-federal-funding\/","title":{"rendered":"Transbay Terminal Dispute Threatens Federal Funding"},"content":{"rendered":"

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California High Speed Trains: Business Plan.<\/center><\/p>\n

By Matt Drake<\/strong>, guest editorial<\/em><\/p>\n

January 18, 2010<\/p>\n

In November of 2008, Californians voted yes on Proposition 1A, a bond measure raising $10 billion to construct a high speed rail line linking San Francisco and southern California. \u00c2\u00a0When it is completed, we will be able to travel from downtown San Francisco to downtown Los Angeles in about 2 \u00c2\u00bd hours.<\/p>\n

Getting this project built is perhaps the most important thing California can do to help our environment and fight global warming.\u00c2\u00a0 Trains release less carbon dioxide than either cars or planes, and California’s roads and airports are already operating at or near capacity.\u00c2\u00a0 High speed rail has been operating in France and Japan for forty years.\u00c2\u00a0 There is no reason we cannot have it in California.\u00c2\u00a0 Construction is being overseen by the California High Speed Rail Authority<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Separately from this, San Francisco is replacing the decrepit bus terminal at 1st and Mission Street and taking advantage of this once in a lifetime opportunity to build a true downtown train station.\u00c2\u00a0 Caltrain will be extended from the present station at 4th and King underground to the new station, the Transbay Terminal<\/a>. \u00c2\u00a0This project is overseen by the Transbay Joint Powers Authority.\u00c2\u00a0 This will be a fabulous opportunity for San Francisco to make public transit more convenient and affordable.\u00c2\u00a0 Caltrain is presently jammed with people commuting between San Francisco and Silicon Valley and a downtown station will get even more people out of their cars and into mass transit.<\/p>\n

Of course, building a new train station and extending Caltrain underground will be expensive. The entire project will cost over $4 billion and the funding has been cobbled together money from local, regional, State and Federal sources. \u00c2\u00a0Fortunately, the Obama administration has made funding of transit projects a priority. \u00c2\u00a0This is the ideal “shovel ready” project. \u00c2\u00a0We have already started some work, we have plans in place and we are ready to go. \u00c2\u00a0The Transbay Join Powers Authority (TJPA) has applied for $400 million from the federal government to get this project started. The construction plan was to build the top part of the terminal first, serving buses, followed by the underground “train box” after the funding had been located. This $400 million would allow the TJPA to get started on building the train terminal from the ground up, which would save time and money.<\/p>\n

It is only logical that since San Francisco is already building a train station in downtown San Francisco for Caltrain, the high speed rail line should also use that same station. After all, the high speed rail is going to use Caltrain’s tracks anyway on its route from San Jose to San Francisco, so it should also use the same station. This is what everyone has been planning for since the Transbay project started. Makes sense, right?<\/p>\n

THE PROBLEM<\/strong><\/p>\n

The California High Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) has suddenly decided it wants to look at a different location for the terminal, along Beale Street between Mission and Harrison Streets. This location makes no sense and has been rejected several times in the past for many reasons, including:<\/p>\n