09-01-2007, 04:02 PM
quote:
Everyone who is giving examples of high speed rail are using areas that have populations that are more than 10x the population of this island.
For example, BART costs $200 million per mile to expand. While it is true that land costs are lower on the Big Island, it is also true that BART already has made the investment in command infrastructure. Even with a foundation to build upon, expansion is very pricey. Simply adding a few miles of track requires city votes, years of debate, and endless argument. A recent case is the expansion to BART down to San Jose.
I contrast, in Northern California light rail costs "only" $20-40 million per mile. I think that comes out to about $100 per mile for each resident on the big island.
Buses are slower but costs matter also.
Edited by - hpp4me on 09/01/2007 20:04:26