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Good Riddance, Grapevine
Never having to drive through this again? Sob.
The East Bay and South Bay (more or less) are vying to be one of the destination points that will send travelers from SF to LA in 2½ hours. (Can you imagine? You're watch HSM and HSM2 on your iPhone and -- poof! -- you're kicking it in LA!) Over 700 miles of track would be devoted to getting you from SF to LA in record time, and tomorrow the California High Speed Rail Authority will decide on two plans for routing. Whatever the route, just thinking about getting to and from LA in such a short amount of time makes our tear ducts well up with joy. Seriously.
One option is the Gilroy-based Pacheco crossing, "which will connect to San Francisco through San Jose and the Peninsula [and] is favored because it follows existing Caltrain tracks and avoids cutting through wetland habitats around the Bay."
The second one is the Altamont, which "would better serve those who live north of Modesto, including residents moving between the Bay Area and Sacramento." This route would probably stop in Union City and "require a bridge across the Bay through the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge, located mostly along the shoreline north and south of the Dumbarton Bridge."
Basically, one route would have precious SF denizens going to the East Bay and the other the South Bay -- much like the trying decision of choosing Oakland Airport or SFO. (Hint: SFO!) But which route is best? We implore you to duke it out between yourselves in the comment section. But according the the Examiner, "authority estimates, the rail could save up to 22 million barrels of oil annually, and uses one-third the energy per mile as air travel and one-fifth that of automobile travel." Which? Is awesome. But just how long and at what cost ($40 billion is one estimate) will prove itself in time. [via Examiner]
Still, this bullet train idea has gold written all over it. Gold, we say! Gold!
Image credit: AP Photo / via Examiner