Ironies

California's establishment (a large club) cannot fix potholes but they want to build a bullet train. I get that. More baffling is the fact that many leading economists (and others) ignore all this and promote ever more spending on "infrastructure". When it comes to public spending, it's apparently OK to double-down on multi-billion dollar waste.

The real game-changer (challenge to the growth of private auto use) is from the likes of Uber. The Economist of Sep 3 includes "From zero to seventy (billion) ... The accelerated life and times of the world's most valuable startup." Ironies everywhere. Uber's billions, for new ideas and approaches, are volunteered; transit's billions for old tech are coerced -- with predictable results. And transit's politician friends do what they can to throttle Uber -- and protect the taxi status quo.

What will Uber-plus-self-driving technology do? Door-to-door personal transportation will beat fixed-route collective transit in most cases. Serving the public does not involve "public servants." Quite the opposite.

ADDED

Cowen re Uber.