Free Nevada wrote on July 03, 2009 01:04 AM: @lakeside21: you are right on, but the peeps who conceived that desertXpress abomination haven't driven between SoCal and SoNev thousands of times like some of us and they either don't know what they don't know or they have some other motive with their investor's money. Reid knows better, but he endorsed it on the theory that something is better than nothing because the local economy is collapsing.

@Donna: with the economic boom that would come from cycling most of the 25 million people who live in SoCal through our 350mph MagLev (often many times over), we would have more than enough money to connect Aliente to Boulder --and build a Dubai-class desalinization plant in offshore partnership and a couple of breeder nuclear reactors North of the Test Site. Not all at once, but Vegas wasn't built in a day. These are "real" things your great great grand kids can "kick" like Hoover Dam --not just imaginary dollars being moved around to try and shore things up on Wall Street.

bruinvic wrote on July 03, 2009 12:59 AM: Another bad idea from the Obama admin. Obama is the only one on the fast track, it's the fast track to destroying this great country.

lakeside21 wrote on July 03, 2009 12:40 AM: So in the video, the developers say it will take 1 1/2 hours to go from Victorville to LV by their train. Google Maps has the trip by car at 2 hr 45 minutes. Would people really pay $100 per person roundtrip (assuming its actually priced that low) to save just an hour in each direction, while giving up having a car in Vegas?

Donna wrote on July 03, 2009 12:35 AM: And with all that effort and money, Southern Nevadans still won't have an efficient public transportation system withing their city. Why not spend this money inside Southern Nevada? I have a car but would be willing to leave it parked if I could ride a bus or train withing my own town.

Free Nevada wrote on July 03, 2009 12:27 AM: America can put many tons of now idle equipment and 20,000 men to work feeding their families again in under six months with a $40B MagLev between SoCal and SoNev using the latest generation of 350 mph trains that "float on air". With an economic multiplier of 3, that's 60,000 new jobs in Clark, San Bernardino, Riverside and Orange during the 5 year construction.

Besides the construction and engineering jobs, MagLevs don't blow off their tracks in desert cross-winds or have to slow down to 30mph while crossing over five snow/ice-prone mountain passes like the competitive system would. MagLevs can also fly silently above simple pillars through miles of pre-existing urban-sprawl in the Greater Los Angeles Area but their stations don't need to photograph your genitals like airports do because they can't be flown off their tracks and into restricted airspace. Simple biometric readers that unlock turnstiles only for decent human beings, trackside surveillance along the fenced-in route and subway-like police force are enough.

Finally, $40B is a drop in the bucket compared to what has been spent trying to jump-start the economy's heart, but enabling such "walk-on/off" convenience between Anaheim Stadium and City Center in 38 minutes (on non-stop runs) could grow both economies more than 10 fold over the next 30 years while actually putting people back to work right now.

MagLev isn't just about Disney/Gaming tourism: It pulls cars off the freeways in SoCal, reduces 737 flights and businesses that need vast amounts of "space" (expensive in LA) will move out along the tracks towards Indio, Blythe, Bullhead, Searchlight, Primm and Vegas, assured of continued access to the best workers from the entire area, while SoCal's urban financial and other districts benefit from access to a larger, more competitively priced workforce increasing their global competitiveness.

Donna wrote on July 02, 2009 11:58 PM: From the Amtrak website, the fare from Victorville to Los Angeles is $37 dollars and takes 3 hours 57 minutes. How fun!

Cari wrote on July 02, 2009 11:47 PM: I was under the impression that there is already a public transportation system between Victorville and Los Angeles. If that is indeed the case, then all people will have to do is transfer. Personally, I'd rather just rent a car and drive the rest of the way. I sure hope the rental car companies in Victorville have plenty of cars available!

Randy wrote on July 02, 2009 11:45 PM: Greg,

If Obama said he was going to put America on energy efficient renewable transportation called a Mule, you'd be on board praising him for his forward thinking leadership.

The government subsidized rail is nonsense. Its a waste of money and a subsidy for the rich. Wake up you are being used.

Randy wrote on July 02, 2009 11:41 PM: Democrats show now signs of slowing down when it comes to blowing through trillions of dollars.

They just have one bad idea after another.

Donna wrote on July 02, 2009 11:20 PM: I'm so glad we'll have a train to Victorville that will get us to the middle of the high desert in 80 or 90 minutes. That's wonderful. Last time I figured travel time for public transportation across town, the estimate was three hours. Does anybody else see a problem here? How about some efficient public transportation within our own valley???? I'm sickened by this huge waste, but not surprised.

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