6. Conclusions ............................................................................ 56 7. Future Work ........................................................................... 57 3. Background The corridor between San Francisco, California and Los Angeles, California is one of the most often traveled corridors in the American West. The current practical modes of transport for passengers between these two major population centers include: 1. Road (inexpensive, slow, usually not environmentally sound) 2. Air (expensive, fast, not environmentally sound) 3. Rail (expensive, slow, often environmentally sound) A new mode of transport is needed that has benefits of the current modes without the negative aspects of each. This new high speed transportation system has the following requirements: 1. Ready when the passenger is ready to travel (road) 2. Inexpensive (road) 3. Fast (air) 4. Environmentally friendly (rail/road via electric cars) The current contender for a new transportation system between southern and northern California is the “California High Speed Rail.” The parameters outlining this system include: 1. Currently $68.4 billion USD proposed cost 2. Average speed of 164 mph (264 kph) between San Francisco and Los Angeles 3. Travel time of 2 hours and 38 minutes between San Francisco and Los Angeles a. Compare with 1 hour and 15 minutes by air b. Compare with 5 hours and 30 minutes by car 4. Average one-way ticket price of $105 one-way (reference) a. Compare with $158 round trip by air for September 2013 b. Compare with $115 round trip by road ($4/gallon with 30 mpg vehicle) A new high speed mode of transport is desired between Los Angeles and San Francisco; however, the proposed California High Speed Rail does not reduce current trip times or reduce costs relative to existing modes of transport. This preliminary design study proposes a new mode of high speed transport that reduces both the travel time and travel cost between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Options are also included to increase the transportation system to other major population centers across California. It is also worth noting the energy cost of this system is less than any currently existing mode of transport