MANY OF the decisions that must be made when government budgets are cut can be painful, but there are some that are easy and obvious. One of the latter is the move by Congress to slash spending on California's high-speed rail project.
Republicans in Congress, even those from this state, rightly view high-speed rail as an easy target. The proposed $2.5 billion for all U.S. high-speed rail spending has been reduced to $1 billion and could eventually drop to zero.
. . .
Unfortunately, another possible victim of the funding cuts is the BART extension from Fremont into northern San Jose. If rail funds are to be reduced, it would make more sense to end all federal funding for California's high-speed rail and preserve funding for BART to San Jose, a project that would boost transit ridership and ease traffic on the clogged highways from the East Bay into San Jose.