According to the San Francisco Chronicle holiday travel was unusually light at SFO yesterday – the economic crisis keeping more folks at home? Perhaps people chose to drive to their in-state destinations but as anyone who has tried Interstate 5 around a holiday knows, the two lanes get backed up very fast. It once took me 10 hours to make it back to Berkeley from Santa Ana the day after Christmas on I-5 – nearly twice the usual travel time.
Obviously you know where I’m going with this. Ten years from now travelers won’t have to choose between expensive airfares, costly and time-consuming car trips, or staying home for the holidays. High speed rail will provide a fast and affordable way to visit your family or friends. I can only imagine the TV reports from November 2018 – busy scenes at the Transbay Terminal, Diridon Station, LA Union Station.
Ten years from now high speed rail will become part of the fabric of everyday life in California. We’ll wonder – rightly – how we ever got along without it.
And what am I thankful for? The 6,512,189 Californians who voted to make HSR a reality by passing Proposition 1A earlier this month.
Enjoy your Thanksgiving, everyone.