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'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's elevated and in earthquake country, but my god, 29k a foot?! That's 3.5 times the cost per foot than in Denver. I honestly don't see it. Sure, the balance sheets are all likely out there in the public ledger, but honestly, I don'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 "Showing a willingness to think big." You can think big all you want, but if there is excessive need to 'grease wheels' to get something moving and built, then all the pie in the sky thinking in the world isn't going to do anything without the cash.
[0]http://archives.sfexaminer.com/sanfrancisco/controversial-ba...
[1]https://www.bart.gov/news/articles/2014/news20140612-0
[2]