mondoman712

Yeah they're really taking their time with it.

You have to spend billions before laying track. That's true of any high speed rail. They've done a lot of groundwork and built a lot of structures, and they should be laying some track relatively soon.

• Merced to Bakersfield is the initial operation segment, that is estimated to cost $28–35 billion, as per your link. This is the cheapest phase that you are referring to.

• Phase 1 adds the segments to SF and Anaheim. This is projected to cost $130 billion.

• Phase 2 adds segments to San Diego and Sacramento. These are a long way off and I haven't seen any cost estimates for it, but as you can see it doesn't triple the length of the system.

• There is no Phase 3 in the official design.

So where does the $500 billion come from?

full phase 1 != the IOS. The IOS is predicted to be $28–35 billion. The full phase 1, which is SF and Merced to Anaheim, and also most of the entire network, is predicted to be $128bn (as per your quote).

The IOS is projected to commence revenue service as a self-contained high-speed rail system between 2030-2033, at a cost of $28–35 billion, and will replace current San Joaquins service south of Merced.

From the top of the page you linked. I see no reference to $130b.

The federal government can also fund infrastructure projects in states.

Source on the $500 billion?

And governments don't need to find money to fund capital projects. The US government can print money. They can effectively borrow money against the future economic growth that the project will provide, which is an easy bet with projects like this.

There's a facebook group for that line, perhaps they could help you: https://www.facebook.com/groups/upbelvideresub/

The 20mph has had a measurable impact in Wales, and it does lower average speeds even if more people are now driving over the limit. It really should come along with infrastructure changes to reflect the lower limits, but that would take decades and this is something that can be done quickly.

Not really surprising from the bbc

Traffic flows best at 20mph. Here's a scientific study that proves it (pdf warning)

Lower speeds have a huge impact on the pedestrian you hit. There's a big difference between the fatality rates at 30mph Vs 20mph