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Notes -
California HSR is LA->SF, that is close enough to 100% of the economic value. Failing to serve central valley residents is entirely irrelevant.
Plus, transit brings development. It might be the case that people currently live on rt 99, but once transit to places that matter becomes available, folks may choose to live near it. This is literally what happens in China: they build a subway stop in an empty field and a few years later it's a walkable mass of 20 story mixed use buildings. Then again, China has legalized the construction of 20 story mixed use buildings, unlike California.
Well, as I noted in my response to Supah_Shemendrick, the official ballot pamphlet argument in favor of the 2008 bond initiative explicitly said it would serve downtown Fresno and the San Joaquin Valley in general. Since CA courts look to the ballot argument in order to interpret ballot initiatives, People v. Floyd, 31 Cal.4th 179, 187 (2003) ["Our construction is also supported by the ballot argument distributed to voters for the November 2000 General Election."], that implies that CA HSR was not supposed to be LA->SF.
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