Note in the inbox today, the approval for the design of the SF Transbay Transit Center has allowed the project to go forward with the $400 million in Federal stimulus funds to complete the project started in 2008. Shovel ready, in other words. Star on the map marks the spot.This provides the terminus for the High Speed Rail project in California, also a recipient of Federal dollars. I've reviewed the logistics of this HSR concept before, and hope that it actually gets implemented as HSR, and not a stop-everywhere-rail. That doesn't do justice to the scale of the system design, which is intended only to rocket from one major city transportation hub to another.
An interactive map for the project is here, and the timeline can be found on the Transbay Transit Center website.
As I've said before, the public project development and renderings have foreshadowed this development for a long time.
Meantime, action further south has delayed the DEIR on the HSR project until next year, and some of the cities are actively opposing the plans due to the costs of the system and the dislocation and disruption that new tracks and stations will create in their cities. At the state level, the State Auditor has issued a review reflecting the cost concerns of the Planning and Conservation League, which has filed a lawsuit over the dismissal of an alternate route in the Bay area through Sacramento.
Just for fun: a slideshow of transit maps that shows how complex and intricate systems data is viewed over time. Real-time digital information is greatly improving the mapping information, and these are moving onto the iPhone platform, of course. Latest hot app that actually helps people navigate the urban terrain.
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