&quot;&gt;&gt;Making it easier and faster to approve transit projects.&quot;<p>I moved out of CA, and man alive is it surprising how... corrupt... Caltrans is. I mean, really. In Denver we are building a rail line all the way out to the airport from downtown, something that I got to see start (2011) to finish (granted, spring 2016, but I have no doubts about it) for $1 billion total([2], projected cost) at ~8200 per foot. It&#x27;s not a subway, so no digging, and the land is cheaper, but all the same. Something like this would be unimaginable in CA to take less than 15 years. The AirBart cost about $29,000 per foot and still costs $6 per ride [0] with a development time of ~30 years([1]data is suspicious though). Yes, it&#x27;s elevated and in earthquake country, but my god, 29k a foot?! That&#x27;s 3.5 times the cost per foot than in Denver. I honestly don&#x27;t see it. Sure, the balance sheets are all likely out there in the public ledger, but honestly, I don&#x27;t if I can trust them. In the end here, the author of this piece is right, but he misses the issue of corruption that plays into &quot;Showing a willingness to think big.&quot; You can think big all you want, but if there is excessive need to &#x27;grease wheels&#x27; to get something moving and built, then all the pie in the sky thinking in the world isn&#x27;t going to do anything without the cash.<p>[0]<a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;archives.sfexaminer.com&#x2F;sanfrancisco&#x2F;controversial-bart-to-oakland-airport-connector-opens-but-questions-remain&#x2F;Content?oid=2912859" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;archives.sfexaminer.com&#x2F;sanfrancisco&#x2F;controversial-ba...</a><p>[1]<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.bart.gov&#x2F;news&#x2F;articles&#x2F;2014&#x2F;news20140612-0" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.bart.gov&#x2F;news&#x2F;articles&#x2F;2014&#x2F;news20140612-0</a><p>[2]