The map was logistically difficult and needed work, that was the biggest issue. It wasn't the conservative trope of scrimping and hoarding every dollar to neglect infrastructure (like in many red states). High speed rail is a good idea, but getting a line from Los Angeles to San Francisco is challenging to say the least.
There are that could probably bring down the cost, such as having the line to the bay area follow I-580 and end at the Dublin/Pleasanton (or a possible Livermore) BART station, and leave HSR in the bay area for a later project, but instead he just killed the whole thing.
Inclined to agree, albeit following SR-4 over to Brentwood/Antioch, fewer hills to work against and the probable BART Connection has heavier ridership than Dublin/Pleasanton anyway.
Aren't there already plans to extend eBART from Livermore via the Altamont? It'd be a budget saving measure to extend to Stockton and you'd have a de-facto connection anyway to the Bay Area.
Stockton has been a dump since at least the 1970s, but figuring that it is the sort of place that one needs to commute from to have a chance at a good life... if one cannot quite leave it...
