Letter: Taxpayers deserve the truth in transportation

Referring to the U.S.D.O.T. Secretary’s announcement of the federal government investigation of the California High Speed Rail Association’s SuperMassive Black Hole Bullet Train, taxpayers deserve truth-in-transportation, which we are not getting from public sector transit advocates, e.g., CAHSRA high speed rail Trojan Horse Monstrosity.

Taxpayers say, “Get Real.” We cannot afford the additional gas taxes and other taxes/fees that will be required to pay for the construction and capital costs, plus the estimated $1 billion per year annual operating losses, that independent experts predict. What are they smoking at CAHSRA? 

Worse than the public sector transit model that we already subsidize with our gas taxes, sales taxes, etc., you can see that they are lying, again, if you do the math yourself, and don’t swallow the BS-Baloney from CAHSRA and public sector transit advocates. 

Using their numbers, 1 million annual riders from Merced to Bakersfield means 500,000 round trips. Fifty billion dollars in capital and construction costs, plus $1 billion in annual operating costs equals $51 billion; if paid by 500,000 riders means fully amortized fares, fully remunerative fares (i.e., fares cover all costs), would put a round trip at $102,000 per passenger.

At that price it would be cheaper for taxpayers to buy each HSR rider his own Mercedes or BMW.

If you stretch recovery of capital and construction costs over a 20 year period, then the fare price drops to only $5,100.00 for a round trip ticket. How many riders are going to pay that fare price? Zero.

So, to get riders aboard HSR, you will need to collect the majority (99%) of the fare price from the California taxpayers (federal taxpayers are not going along for this socialist ride as they do for Amtrak).

If you tax California’s taxpayers out of their cars, how will you pay for public sector transit of any kind?

Since October 2008 when the Gilroy and Morgan Hill Chambers of Commerce had me debate the Honorable Rod Diridon on the pros and cons of Prop. 1A, CAHSRA’s advocates have lied to the voters. In concluding my side of the debate, I pointed out that UPRR would not permit CAHSRA on, over, or under its properties, and that since the Class Ones have federal eminent domain authority, the CAHSRA’s inferior (State) eminent domain authority would fall to the Class One under federal preemption principles in the U.S. Constitution. 

The two chambers’ members knew the HSR advocates were lying on hearing Rod’s closing response to my conclusion: “Don’t worry,” he told the audience, “We’ll run on BNSF tracks and make Gilroy a South Bay Hub of the Bullet Train.”

Since the closest BNSF tracks to Gilroy are on Stockton-Fresno Corridor in SJV, the audience could see how the Bullet Train advocates lied to the voters.

Since then, nothing has changed, except CAHSRA’s lies have grown bigger and bigger. And taxpayers are getting ripped off to pay for the government’s utopian pipedreams, or real nightmares for those paying for them.

Voters deserve the truth in transportation, and I believe that we ought to give it to them. 

Caveat viator.

Joseph P. Thompson, Esq.

Past-Chair, Legislation Committee, Transportation Lawyers Assn.