If the California High Speed Rail Authority folks want us to ride that train, they first have to get us out of our cars. I think they might be working with oil companies to get it accomplished. There is a little matter of increasing taxes on every gallon of gasoline and extra environmental regs that no other state in the union has.

I just can’t figure out why another state – right next door – that doesn’t have a single refinery within its boundaries has regular gasoline that is at least $1 cheaper than what we pay. The picture shows the price of gas in Tucson on March 27. I looked at the prices in the SCV, and the same grade of gasoline was exactly $1 per gallon more. It was also at an ARCO station in the SCV, just like the ARCO station in Tucson.

Did you realize that the last time crude oil prices were this low, gasoline prices in California were about the same as they are now in Arizona? Just what is the reason? The only thing I can figure is that it is a way to get us on a train. A high-speed train that goes from nowhere to no place in the Central Valley.

There is another new glitch in the rush to build the high-speed railroad. Seems like the folks along the proposed route between San Francisco and San Jose have realized the new tracks will require elimination of expensive modifications to about 42 grade crossings along the way. You know, a grade crossing. That is the place where a road or street has to cross railroad tracks. Five hundred million dollars have been estimated to do that. It seems the cities and counties along the way will have to pay to have their roads changed. Now they’re asking, “Just what did we vote for?”

Maybe by increasing taxes and costs of things like gasoline, folks will have to ride the train. Gosh. I just don’t know about this project now.

Tucson, March 27

I’ve been attempting to read and understand the published business plan for the high-speed rail system. What was written could have come from a committee of lawyers and accountants who had no conclusions on costs and schedule. They really didn’t project ridership and had a rough guess of the price of a ticket. (It has increased from what was stated back when we voted on the thing.) I think it was translated into some language that few understand and then translated back into American English, kind of.

Remember when you’d buy something made in Asia? The assembly directions were in the sort-of English one would hear in a bad movie. We know the Chinese and Japanese are fluent in American English, but we had these instructions that made sure you’d never assemble what you bought. Same goes for the CHSR business plan.

It has been nearly eight years since we voted to have a high-speed rail system, and we still don’t have a clue to the following:

A. We don’t know the route and haven’t bought the land.

B. We don’t know the costs involved and don’t have financing available from the feds and private investors.

C. We still don’t have ticket price information. If we did, maybe those private investors would want to join in – but why should they invest when nobody knows the price to ride the damned thing?

D. We still don’t know what the engines or cars will be. You see, the current price tag, such as it is, does not include the train. It only pays for the tracks.

We’ve got to stop this madness. Trying to tie the current bonds to improving our water supply might not be a good answer, either. It just has to be stopped. In reality, this whole idea started with the first high-speed rail authority folks back about 1994. You would think that by now, they would have some answer to these questions.

But many folks have swallowed the Kool-Aid of high-speed rail. They are the same folks who don’t question the price of our gasoline. I can’t explain either that gas price or the high-speed rail.

I can’t explain why we elected Jerry Brown all these many times now, either. I guess we like the pain at the gas pump and in our tax bills that are funding the train. A whole state of masochists.

Maybe we like the pain because we are the crazy “left coast” folks.

Or maybe we just don’t care.

I hope we do care enough to get this stopped. We can’t afford to build it any more than we can afford these gasoline prices. For many, moving to those states just east of us is sounding a whole bunch more likely.

One other thing: Why are diesel fuel prices remaining about the same in both states? Strange stuff going on. Really strange stuff.

Darryl Manzer grew up in the Pico Canyon oil town of Mentryville in the 1960s and attended Hart High School. After a career in the U.S. Navy he returned to live in the Santa Clarita Valley. He can be reached at dmanzer@scvhistory.com. His older commentaries are archived at DManzer.com; his newer commentaries can be accessed [here]. Watch his walking tour of Mentryville [here].