FAST-RAIL BOND MAY GO TO VOTE LAWMAKERS EYE FALL BALLOT.

Byline: Charles F. Bostwick Staff Writer

LANCASTER - State lawmakers are proposing to ask California voters in November to approve a $6 billion bond measure that would pay part of the cost of a proposed high-speed rail system.

If Sacramento lawmakers approve Senate Bill 1856 and Gov. Gray Davis signs it, the California High Speed Rail Bond Act would go on the Nov. 5 ballot.

``It is fundamentally important in my mind,'' said state Treasurer Phil Angelides, one of the bond's supporters. ``It is the first infrastructure investment that we need to make in the 21st century ... The high-speed rail is part of the infrastructure we need to succeed economically in the 21st century.''

The 700-mile rail network would link San Diego, Los Angeles, Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay Area with trains traveling more than 200 mph - fast enough to get from Los Angeles to San Francisco in 2 1/2 hours.

State Sen. Jim Costa, D-Fresno, author of the rail bond measure, said construction could begin as early as 2005, with some routes in operation by 2008.

The ballot measure is expected to amount to $6 billion, although estimates for building the complete rail system have been put at $25 billion or more.

Angelides, in a telephone interview, said the initial segment between Los Angeles and the Bay Area is likely to cost about $12 billion.

The bond measure would let California put up half and ask the federal government to put up half, just like the federal government helped build California's freeway system, he said.

Projections show the Los Angeles-Bay Area segment could bring in $250 million to $500 million a year, Angelides said, allowing the state to sell bonds backed by passenger revenue to build the rest of the system. The bond proposal is a marked turnaround from last year, when the California High Speed Rail Authority almost ran out of money. State officials allocated the agency a little more than $1 million, down from $5 million the previous year.

It was rescued with $1.25 million from Congress and an additional $8.5 million in the governor's proposed 2002-2003 budget.

The money is to complete an environmental impact report. A draft report is due out in June 2003, the final one at the end of that year.

State lawmakers' attitudes toward the rail system have changed, particularly since Sept. 11, Angelides said. When the terrorist attacks halted air travel for days, it showed it made sense to have other travel options, he said.

New airport security measures have turned a one-hour flight from San Francisco to Los Angeles to perhaps a four-hour trip, making high-speed rail more practical, Angelides said.