The way to answer this question objectively is to play with
timetables. Actually, a sequence of timetables, each of which
represents a "Phase." For Phased Implementation, a "Phase" could
be defined as follows: Phase: a coherent set of capital
improvements that enable a new timetable that provides better
service, by some agreed-upon set of metrics, as compared to the
old timetable.We already described one example of how you might
define service metrics for Caltrain, and these could be expanded
to measure HSR service quality. The metrics, regardless of how
they are defined, need to be timetable-independent, clear,
concise, and transparent to the public. Discrete capital
improvements, i.e. construction projects, can then be priced out
on an individual basis and examined in the context of the new
timetables that they enable. The idea is to pick the low hanging
fruit first, and to build the improvements that produce the
biggest improvement in the service metrics for the least
construction cost or community disrupt