SAN FRANCISCO — On Friday, November 7, 2008, the California High Speed Rail Authority, CHSRA, released the business plan for Proposition 1 A, a high speed rail train linking California’s two major cities, San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento to Los Angeles and San Diego via the San Joaquin Valley.

According to the business plan, the project will generate 160,000 jobs in the construction area over the next two decades and by 2030, create 320,000 permanent jobs, which, by 2035, will grow to 450,000 jobs. Additionally, the rail system will reduce the state’s dependence on fossil fuel by 12.7 million barrels of oil per year and eliminate 12 billion pounds of CO 2 emissions each year. It will also expand the transportation capacity, provide a new option for intercity travel and act as a catalyst to strengthen existing city centers by maintaining and improving accessibility.

"This Business Plan calculates high-speed trains will alleviate the need to spend nearly $100 billion to build about 3,000 miles of new freeway plus five airport runways and 90 departure gates over the next two decades," said Judge Quentin Kopp, chairman of the board of the California High Speed Rail Authority. "A statewide high-speed train system will meet that same need for about half the cost."

The construction of the high-speed rail system has been estimated to cost $33 billion and will be funded by the State of California, the federal government, local and regional governments and private sector investors. The $1.3 billion annual operation and maintenance of the rail system is expected to be financed by the commuters through paid fares. By setting the train fares at 50 percent of airfares, the high-speed trains will be able to carry 55 million traveler trips in 2030 and therefore generate $2.4 billion in profits. The extra $1.1 billion would be then used to expand or improve the system and to repay construction bonds.

However, not everyone is for this project. Some organizations such as Citizens Against Government Waist, Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Foundation and Reason foundation, conducted their own report, "The California High Speed Rail Proposal: A Due Diligence Report," based on the CHSRA documentation with the purpose of examining the proposal.  According to their report, the CHSRA documentation is not objective when it comes to analysis about risks and uncertainties and has not been examined in an independent review. Also the CHSRA documentation has estimated the travel time of the non-stop trip between San Francisco and Los Angeles to 2 hours and 42 minutes. The Due Diligance Report on the other hand shows that the trip will take 3 hours and 41 minutes, 59 minutes longer.

The full Business Plan of CHSRA can be viewed on the authority's web site at www.cahighspeedrail.ca.gov/ and "The California High Speed Rail Proposal: A Due Diligence Report" can be obtained at http://www.hjta.org .