We spent a few days in San Diego after taking the Bullet Train out of Redding. It just took a few hours. I remember when it took all day on I-5 back in the bad old days. What a great trip. The train was really nice, and we met some cool people. San Diego has a terrific Light Rail system. Look at what they’ve done to their cityscape HERE. We even took the Red Car to Tijuana for an afternoon of fun.
The Red Car is quaint and fun, but not as nice as our Green Car system that stretches from Shingletown to Whiskeytown. Of course, the best part of any trip is coming home to Redding. Our NicholsMelburg&Rossetto designed train station is one of the nicest in the world.
Of course I’m making all this up. I was thinking about this as we started getting so many e-mails this week about trying to beat down the proposed SCRIP (formerly Fix 5) building fees that are ostensibly meant to pay for widening I-5. Widening I-5? Are we maybe preparing for the wrong scenario here? They have “freeways” ten lanes wide in the Bay Area and they are still jammed. What if we had a decent rail system like they have in Europe? Why is that Europe has a better transportation system than we do? We are spending trillions of stimulus dollars and all we get is widened roads? I’m feeling really gyped. Where is the vision that built Shasta Dam? Our leaders today spend big, but think small.
