ONLINE COMMENTS
RE: NEW RAIL TRAIL DETAILS
Correction to this reporter’s article: It is not residents who petition the RTC for Quiet Zones (QZ). Residents can petition their City or County jurisdiction and it is those jurisdictions (aka taxpayers) that must petition the RTC. It is also those jurisdictions (aka taxpayers) that will be financially responsible for the extra infrastructure of the QZs and for liability at the QZ crossings. Question: how much will all of this cost? In 2022, when voters thought they were voting for a train, no one had a clue what the total cost of such a project would be. The only figure that has been proffered so far is about $1.3 billion. Wanna bet it will be more?!
Jean Brocklebank
Jack Brown and his failed friends at “Greenway” (LOL!) are going to forever crush any other type of motorized transportation in our county. Pity. Thankfully, many of us support the rail line.
As a Cabrillo trustee, speaking ONLY for myself ( not the campus president, the other trustees or the college), I am delighted to welcome either a bridge or a tunnel onto the Cabrillo Aptos campus to facilitate student and employee traffic to and from the campus. it will complement the new dorm we hope to have finished by mid 2027. Time marches on, folks. The Census Bureau reports CA population is now growing again, up to and past 40 million. It is NOT 1959 anymore, and we will have to live with growth in population. That means dorms on the campuses and electric trains to transport people. We can make it quite livable and see the beauty in it.
Steve L Trujillo
So, this pipe dream group gave a commercial rail license to Progressive Rail. We are now 6 years into that 10-year contract, and not a single freight shipment has been made. How’s this all going to work out for you?
There is not enough population to support this. The entire Bay Area train system runs at a deficit, but at least there’s millions of people that can use it! The population density here is far, far too low. And your estimates to build it? Triple or quadruple them, because nobody building these things seems to be able to predict a budget. And the trail system that could have been on the east side is slowed down by this idiocracy.
Jeff
The population of California is close to 39 million. The population of Santa Cruz County is about 270,000. Different is not the same. Ridership on a passenger train is not freight. Different, not the same. I have traveled by train in Europe. Santa Cruz is not Europe. Of course we can throw all kinds of money at anything. I prefer a solid, flexible, feasible bus system on existing roadway — maybe that efficiency is due to me Scottish blood. Or at least due to my skeptical nature, honed from a lifetime of science learning.
an electric train is NOT a pipe dream. but the 3rd lane on highway one is the tailpipe dream of very car dealer in the county. to become a first word nation that invests in infrastructure like rail travel ( thank you PRESIDENT BIDEN AND VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS !) we need to build it, even if it costs more money and takes longer than anticipated. or do we want to be like Syria ?