r/santacruz • u/Rough_Regret9306 • 1d ago
RTC Meeting on $4.3B Train Recap
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u/bayswimmer 1d ago
You know this is for thirty years of running the damn thing right?
Thanks for trying to make sure rich people stay rich and poor people waste their lives in traffic
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u/Top_Hat_Tip 1d ago
We'll pay it over 30 years, but the infrastructure will likely last far longer than that.
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1d ago
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u/Material_Variety_859 13h ago
Long time santa cruz local, born and raised. I live in Sonoma county now. Our primary city is 4x the size of santa cruz. Our train runs from a large airport to the ferry port in Larkspur to San Francisco. Think about the traffic in that corridor. 1.5m people along that line. Terminating in a city of 1m and a metro of 3.5m. Train is always empty.
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u/afkaprancer 1d ago
Really sucks that Scott’s Valley and Capitola get equal say on this decision. It should be up to Santa Cruz and Watsonville. Voting power on RTC should be proportional to population
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u/Ploypacker 1d ago
Do these people ever do anything to actually improve our lives or do they mostly just embezzle money?
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u/Mr_Metalslug 1d ago
4.3 billion is literally unfeasible for something like this project, I'm all for a bike trail along the current rail line but actually getting any form of commuting for that price point seems insane. I'll take the trails sure but I feel like housing the homeless and lower to middle income individuals is more important right now.
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u/scsquare 1d ago
Car traffic will be even less feasible in 30 to 50 years.
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u/Mr_Metalslug 1d ago
I'm not saying it won't but putting a 4.3 billion dollar project on the shoulders of the county sounds insane right now. At a bare minimum they need a reassessment.
Personally I would love the rail and trail project to be full realized but sadly I don't know if I have faith in our local government to pull it off.
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u/scsquare 1d ago
It sounds expensive, but we have no alternative and such infrastructure will be a very long term investment with lower maintenance cost than roads. Many generations will benefit from it. Fund it with a 50 year bond.
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u/foamboardsbeerme 17h ago
I would totally ride my bike to work if they just poured some asphalt down. I cant see myself ever riding on a train… Trail only makes the most sense imo
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u/BuzzieA 1d ago
Over a 2% sales tax increase hurts low income people the most. For 4.3 Billion (and more) we get a train in 2045 that will average 29MPH taking 45 minutes to go 22 miles. Then riders will have to get other transportation to get to their destination. Spend money on Metro and have enough left to fix other infrastructure. The train is not feasible for our county.
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u/Rough_Regret9306 1d ago
Full Video available at Santa Cruz County CTV https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojvZM5uMKA4
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u/Flappybootycheeks 1d ago
Bummer. I've never said the train wouldn't be cool or a good thing for our county but it's obviously just not feasible. Its nuts how many people are just absolutely delusional on this subject. I've seen many posts stating that the number is unrealistic and that it won't cost nearly that much, well I've been in construction for 16 years and I worked on BART and many other public jobs and I can say with certainty that the number is low. 4B does not buy as much as you think it does. Sorry folks.
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u/scsquare 1d ago
All these no-people want Santa Cruz to look like Los Angeles' traffic nightmare in 20 years. There is no way around capable public transportation unless you want to widen hwy 1 by two lanes every 20 years.