Bud,
I am sure Howard can chime in on this, but BART is a very expensive operation,
and would probably be more expensive than this high speed rail being proposed.
I know a guy who worked on the computer systems that handle BART's train
scheduling and real time ticketing system - the high speed rail will not need
the ticketing system which is a huge expense.
He told me that on multiple occasions independent auditors were brought in to
look at BART's cost, and they all came back with the same solution. Make BART
free and cut out the infrastructure that handles the ticketing system (employees
and hardware), and BART would run a profit solely based upon the government
subsidies. The real time ticketing system is a huge albatross. Especially because
of the various rates depending on length of trip. NYC has a single ride fee regardless
of where you get on or off. It is much cheaper to operate that way.
Ian