All Aboard, Bay Area, on Your Fast Train to Wasco

This Kern County Town, a Conduit for High-Speed Rail, Has a Lot to Offer

Dear Bay Area,

Welcome to Wasco.

You may never have heard of this small city of 25,000 in the San Joaquin Valley. You probably can’t pronounce it (it’s WAW-skoh).

But you and Wasco share a future.

You could be connected—at least temporarily—by the most expensive infrastructure project in state history.

Your Wasco connection is a byproduct of problems with high-speed rail’s plan for a San Francisco to Los Angeles train. The financial and engineering challenges of tunneling the Tehachapi Mountains have delayed construction to L.A. And the project is short $2 billion to …

By Joe Mathews | March 2, 2017

When You Ride the Bus, You Ride With Big Data

Will Public Transit Apps Create Customers or Citizens?

By Lisa Margonelli | June 29, 2016

When I first arrived in San Francisco in 1988, I often took a bus called the 22 Fillmore, which ran from Potrero Hill, made a right turn near the Castro, …

California’s Last Stand Against San Francisco Imperialism

Only San Jose Can Stop the City by the Bay from Gaining Too Much Power and Money

By Joe Mathews | May 5, 2016

Poor San Jose—so far from God, so close to San Francisco.

San Jose is the 10th largest city in the United States, the third most populous in the state of California—and …

Mourning the Loss of a True Workingman’s Bridge

The Bay Bridge Was Never as Famous as the Golden Gate, but It Was Our Most Innovative

By Jonathan Haeber | November 13, 2015

On November 14, if all goes as scheduled, a monumental piece of engineering will unceremoniously sink beneath the San Francisco Bay. Known as “E3,” it is the largest load-bearing pier …

Public Health Official Tangerine Brigham

A Committed But Intense Public Servant

October 22, 2014

Tangerine Brigham directs the office of managed care at the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services; previously, she directed Healthy San Francisco, a program that subsidized medical care for …

When Immigration Isn’t a One-Way Street

My Great-Grandfather Came to California from China to Work on the Railroads, and Our Family Has Gone Back and Forth Ever Since

by Steven Wong | October 14, 2014

When my great-grandfather made his way from China to the United States in the 1920s, I doubt he ever imagined his grandchildren and great-grandchildren would make their way back. California …

How Taiwan’s High-Speed Trains Expose California’s Lack of Nerve

While the Golden State Made Excuses, the Poorer, Smaller Island Country Transformed Its National Transit System

California’s High Speed Rail Should Look Like Germany’s

Stations Can Be Vital Public Spaces That Provide Space for People to Gather, Shop, and Be Entertained

Take the ACE Train

A Small but Successful Commuter Line Between Stockton and San Jose Points a Way Forward for California Transportation

Golden Gate Bridge Train Service? It’s Time to Get on Board

California’s Iconic Span Needs Rail Transit, Both for Symbolism and for Sonoma’s Sake

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