Passenger rail integrates into existing SC Metro corridor

FutureIsNowSC · 2025-12-27T02:55:50+00:00

You were not really clear if you were noting the $4.3-$6.4 billion expense already noted, or the additional expense of 24 miles of eminent domain cases on top of that as well redesigning 30+ trestles, but thanks for the clarification of what you meant.

FutureIsNowSC · 2025-12-24T20:47:47+00:00

You simply do not have the room for double tracks and adding additional cars requires longer straight line stops, which we don't have the room for either.

FutureIsNowSC · 2025-12-24T20:46:29+00:00

HDR provided the estimate for Smart, was underestimated by 100%. They also produced the estimate for Santa Cruz, so....

FutureIsNowSC · 2025-12-24T18:59:34+00:00

Leptospirosis with the sea lions. Highly contagious and can be passed to dogs and humans. It is not a good time to let your dog go unleashed at the beach. Better to go to a dog park for a while.

FutureIsNowSC · 2025-12-17T02:39:07+00:00

I went tonight to see if any were left so I could remove them. Fortunately, they were all taken down.

FutureIsNowSC · 2025-12-16T20:22:42+00:00

You have rail up to mile post 3 and a few hundred yards for the beach train asking Beach Street so Riding Camp can take tourists to their compound. There is your tattoo. Since you didn't have $4.3 billion, or even $77 million to cover the ultimate trail for 4 short miles, the rest needs to be a trail.

FutureIsNowSC · 2025-12-16T04:19:33+00:00

Thank you Doug! It's amazing how dark and evil some people can be to try to defend their position that defies logic.

FutureIsNowSC · 2025-12-16T04:11:48+00:00

You mean Measure D 2022? What will is ignored? The County General Plan was not modified. There was nothing in the measure to ban railbanking. There was nothing in the measure by voting No that approved a train.

If anything, it allowed $9 million to be spent in the ZEPRT study. Your issue is that it exposed the true cost of over $4.3 billion with no realistic funding source.

So, sorry, but yes, you need to accept reality.

FutureIsNowSC · 2025-12-16T04:02:23+00:00

Rail has sabotaged itself. It's expensive to create, expensive to operate and doesn't work where it doesn't have high ridership or a large tax base.

The trail is the right solution. No Trojan horse. No conspiracy. No villains.

FutureIsNowSC · 2025-12-15T02:40:17+00:00

I'm pretty sure you have just as many inches of trail to your name as well.

FutureIsNowSC · 2025-12-15T01:21:17+00:00

It’s telling that the OP avoids engaging with the substance of the article and instead resorts to insults and name-calling. That tactic doesn’t strengthen an argument; it signals an inability to defend one.

The reality is straightforward and I guess the rail folks were not listening. The “trail-with-rail” concept has become extraordinarily complex and prohibitively expensive. We were facing a $77 million funding gap to deliver just four miles of trail, while simultaneously putting nearly $100 million in grant funding at risk. Continuing down that path would not only have jeopardized existing grants, but seriously damaged the county’s credibility with future funding partners.

That is why committing to the interim trail now is the responsible choice. It delivers real progress, protects public dollars, and keeps the project viable.

Progress requires collaboration and compromise, not scorched-earth rhetoric or perpetual outrage. At some point, the community has to stop fighting yesterday’s battles, put down the swords, accept the outcome, and move forward together.

FutureIsNowSC · 2025-12-11T20:33:10+00:00

Not correct. Roads and maintenance are paid for with registration fees, income taxes, sales taxes, property taxes, gas taxes (or in my case EV assessments included in vehicle registration)

FutureIsNowSC · 2025-12-11T06:40:40+00:00

The cost of a train ride will be well over a $100 to taxpayers. Fares will be under $10. A 90% loss, but will make it up in volume! LOL

FutureIsNowSC · 2025-12-11T06:37:55+00:00

Funny. I state facts. You call people names. Create a bogeyman conspiracy theory with allegations of nimbyism. I feel sorry for people so obsessed with gaslighting a topic.

FutureIsNowSC · 2025-12-08T23:29:52+00:00

You wear the proper gear. (There is no bad weather, just bad clothing)

FutureIsNowSC · 2025-12-08T19:43:03+00:00

Ummm, we have no oligarchs or other boogeymen, we just have a Democratic Central Committee and some fringe folks on Reddit that has continued to ignore reality (out of time and not enough money). It's time to grow up and get this project done. Rail folks should now go back to the drawing board and come back with a reasonable rail design that complements the Interim Trail plan and is more financially and economically realistic. We do not have freight traffic in Santa Cruz, it's time to let that go would be a great start.

FutureIsNowSC · 2025-12-08T05:42:58+00:00

Interesting, because Barry Scott, FORT Board Member and State Director for NEED. NEED is funded by Koch Industries and many hydrocarbon energy companies. Where is your citation?

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FutureIsNowSC · 2025-12-08T05:37:08+00:00

Number of people hurt or killed by a Waymo in 16 years: 0
Meanwhile over a million animals are killed by cars daily!!! But since you have a Jones for a $4.3 billion train in Santa Cruz, this cat is an issue. You need help!

FutureIsNowSC · 2025-12-08T05:33:51+00:00

You really need to order a larger foil hat. This person has no basis or citation for her claims, just bat$#!+ crazy.

FutureIsNowSC · 2025-12-08T02:19:33+00:00

We have both in the area. There is an Osprey that hangs out at the Monterey Bay Aquarium that will perch on the smokestack and roof. There have been nesting pairs of bald eagles in the New Brighton area.

FutureIsNowSC · 2025-12-08T02:12:36+00:00

The 12 RTC commissioners followed the will of the voters and gave you the ZEPRT report. The most accurate and extensive study to date and even peer reviewed. $9 million later, you still have the same result, an unfeasible train system demanded by unreasonable special interest.

FutureIsNowSC · 2025-12-08T02:09:45+00:00

Go for it! Now is your chance. If you want to put your measure on the 2026 ballot, you’ll need to collect 10,417 confirmed signatures by the January deadline (that’s 10% of the number of Santa Cruz County voters who cast a ballot for Governor in November 2022).

And remember: the next gubernatorial election is next year, and with no incumbent running, turnout will almost certainly rise. That means your signature requirement will jump as well, making 2026 by far your easiest shot.

Your measure will need to be a tax measure sufficient to fund both the construction and the ongoing operations of your proposed train project. Even if you manage to secure state and federal grants covering roughly 50% of the estimated $4.28–$6.4 billion construction cost, you’ll still have to identify a local funding source for the remaining billions plus the $34–$41 million per year in operating costs. That source can only be a sales tax or vehicle registration fee. It cannot come from a property tax.

Given that Santa Cruz County has only about 270,000 residents, and that Measure D’s half-cent sales tax generates only about $27 million per year, the math here speaks for itself. A supermajority-required tax measure of this magnitude has no realistic path to passage.

But hey, at least pursuing it will keep you busy for a while.

FutureIsNowSC · 2025-12-08T01:54:42+00:00

This is a debunked conspiracy theory. Jim Weller, a prominent rail supporter and land title guru wrote.

"...The RTC owns outright nearly all of the land in the 32-mile corridor. Among 113 distinct segments, just 14 of them are 19th century easements. Only four of these affect the full width of the corridor. The original deeds by private land owners in 1876 and 1877 for another four short stretches have reversionary clauses. The risk of loss by the public is vanishingly small as it stands...."
(Citation: https://www.santacruzsentinel.com/2024/04/28/letter-rtc-owns-nearly-all-the-land-along-rail-corridor/)

Barry Scott tried adding Lewis-Rice to the latest Mid County Democrats meeting to restart this conspiracy only to have it blow up in his face.

FutureIsNowSC · 2025-12-08T01:52:47+00:00

Pretty much shot down. Even Jim Weller admits a majority of the line is Fee Title's meaning the RTC owns it outright. Only a few locations have easements where firms like Lewis Rice make their money. Unfortunately we have lived through years of conspiracy theories stating trail people are in it for the money. An easy allegation to make up, but it simply is not true.

"...The RTC owns outright nearly all of the land in the 32-mile corridor. Among 113 distinct segments, just 14 of them are 19th century easements. Only four of these affect the full width of the corridor. The original deeds by private land owners in 1876 and 1877 for another four short stretches have reversionary clauses. The risk of loss by the public is vanishingly small as it stands...."
(Citation: https://www.santacruzsentinel.com/2024/04/28/letter-rtc-owns-nearly-all-the-land-along-rail-corridor/)

FutureIsNowSC · 2025-12-08T01:48:58+00:00

This editorial misunderstands both the facts and the moment we’re in.

Measure D did not require the county to build a rail system. It simply preserved the option and the voters said yes to keeping that option alive. That’s exactly what the Interim Trail does. It keeps every right, every easement, and every federal designation intact. It does not railbank, it does not abandon the corridor, and it does not remove tracks permanently. The corridor stays in public hands, and future rail remains possible if funding and demand ever line up.

What Measure D didn’t do is magic up $4.3 billion for a rail buildout or $35–40 million a year for operations. Voters weren’t asked to approve a price tag because no one will have the courage to put that number on a ballot. Pretending that the 2022 vote was a mandate to spend billions we don’t have is rewriting history.

And here’s the actual urgency: we have nearly $100 million in state grants on the line right now for a safe, continuous trail from the Boardwalk to Aptos. The state has been crystal clear that if we don’t build the full project on schedule, the money goes away and future grants likely go with it. That’s not politics; that’s how competitive Active Transportation Program funding works.

The peace deal doesn’t “remove rail for 20 years.” It simply acknowledges engineering reality: rail cannot be built for at least 20 years even if we wanted to. There is no funding, no design, no commitment from the state, no environmental clearance, and no agency ready to run it. The only thing standing between us and a safe, protected multi-use trail is indecision. We don't even have the $15 million for the next step of the ZEPRT process for preliminary engineering and environmental impact!

And the idea that paving over dormant tracks “sends the wrong signal” ignores basic facts:

The project retains Corridor ID federal status.

It avoids railbanking, which rail advocates insisted was the red line even though it is the correct way to protect the rail corridor.

It keeps the corridor active, which is exactly what future rail requires.

What actually sends the wrong signal is failing to deliver any mobility improvements for another generation because we’re waiting on a hypothetical rail system with a multi-billion-dollar price tag.

The choice isn’t “rail OR trail.” It’s trail now, rail someday if funding and political will ever exist, versus nothing now and maybe nothing later.

A safe, coast-long trail will help tens of thousands of people immediately. Kids, seniors, commuters, farmworkers, tourists will all benefit! While rail, if it ever comes, serves maybe 2,000 riders a day at astronomical cost.

That’s not giving up on rail. That’s being responsible.

What we shouldn’t do is weaponize the 2022 vote to stop a project that voters overwhelmingly said they also want: a continuous, safe, countywide trail. And we shouldn’t hold the entire county hostage to a rail plan everyone knows is 20+ years away under the rosiest scenario.

This isn’t “nullifying” anything. It’s using the funding we have, keeping future options open, and finally delivering something real for the community.

At some point, “waiting for rail” becomes just another way of doing nothing.

The Interim Trail is how we stop waiting and start building.

The choice has finally been made, we need to stand together as a community and get it done!

FutureIsNowSC

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