San Francisco for lunch and back

President Obama today announced his support for high-speed rail projects in the United States, with an initiative to draw on $8 billion in new stimulus money for these projects through 2012. The important project of the California High-Speed Rail Authority would naturally be a major beneficiary.

Amazingly, many people I've spoken to recently do not realize that such an essential and long-overdue project is afoot in California. For those who are still living in the Amtrak age, there are several informational videos available on YouTube that elucidate the project with nifty computer animations, including this one:

This project will not only generate thousands of jobs, but will provide much-needed alternative transport between Los Angeles and California's other major metropolitan areas. Or, perhaps, planes and cars will eventually be thought of as the "alternative" methods of travel between cities.

Here's hoping that within the decade we Angelenos will be able to travel to San Francisco for lunch (say, sand dabs at the Tadich Grill) and return to L.A. in time for the evening rush hour.