Transportation Systems Sector Dominates $57 Billion in Proposed Future Industrial Manufacturing Industry Spending in California

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The state of California is often on the cutting edge of technology, embracing new ideas more rapidly than other states. Green initiatives take the pole position in the state and much of the spending within the Industrial Manufacturing Industry in this state is aimed at reducing the carbon footprint of its residents. While California is certainly not a state with an in-depth history of a reliance on rail as a primary mode of transportation--at least not when compared with other states such as New York or Maryland--the state has certainly embraced rail as an alternative mode of transportation much more wholeheartedly than other states. Looking at the proposed future spending within the Industrial Manufacturing Industry in California, most of the $57 billion that is in the planning stages of development involves transportation-sector projects.

Just about each and every major city in California operates some form of rail system, be it light rail or commuter rail, or is looking at building a rail system in the near future. Of the 41 projects that Industrial Info Resources is currently tracking in the state of California, 11 projects, worth an estimated $55.9 billion, are rail projects. Some are grassroot projects involving the construction of new rail lines that would bring rail transportation to areas of the state that currently do not have such systems, while others are extensions of expansions of existing rail systems that are intended to provide better rail coverage for the state.

The largest rail project planned in the state is the massive $45 billion-plus high-speed rail project that will provide 200-mile-per-hour rapid transportation from Sacramento and San Francisco to San Diego when completed. This project will involve at least 10 different segments that would be constructed over the course of 10 years or more and would gradually bring high-speed rail service from San Francisco down to San Diego, with legs reaching into Los Angeles and Sacramento. Once completed, this rail backbone would give the state the flexibility to add additional legs to the system that would further expand this valued service to other major cities within the state, and could even be connected to the proposed nationwide high-speed rail system that is being studied at the federal level.

Other major rail investments are planned in Los Angeles, Fremont, Arcadia, Pittsburg, Cloverdale, Oakland, Santa Clara, Sacramento and San Jose. Numerous other projects will be planned in the future, along with projects revolving around adding stations to existing lines to provide better service, or constructing maintenance facilities to service the engines and rail cars. These projects are essential to California's philosophy of carbon footprint reduction and green initiatives as they have the potential to take thousands of vehicles off of the state's already overcrowded roads. While California has been dealing with significant budgetary issues, money seems to always be found to push these key infrastructure projects forward.

Another area of significant expenditure in the state is the port system. Eight of the proposed projects planned for the future in the state are port-related projects worth an estimated $592 million. The ports of California are the major import areas for goods from Asia, and constant work is required to not only keep them operating at maximum efficiency, but also to adapt and expand them to handle the increased traffic that comes through their gates each and every year. Project activity is often heavy at the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach, as both of these ports are some of the busiest in the country. However, significant work is also performed at the Port of Oakland and other smaller ports across the state, which are constantly fighting for their piece of the import-export pie. In addition, California is one of the first states to attempt to reduce the emissions footprint of its ports through environmental projects aimed at making the ships that dock at its port reduce pollution and keep the waters of the ports clean.

While other sectors in the Industrial Manufacturing Industry certainly contribute to spending in the state of California, including universities that are constantly updating and expanding their infrastructure or various manufacturing plants that add equipment almost each and every year, the transportation systems sector is, by far, the dominant sector when it comes to overall spending. Each year, billions of dollars are allocated for this sector, with projects beginning construction, others reaching completion and becoming operational, while new projects are added to the books. These projects create thousands of construction and permanent jobs each year, and much of California's economy is tied to their success or failure, so it is in the best interest of the state to keep these initiatives moving forward and to continue to find the funding to get them done, despite the problems facing the state when it comes to overspending.

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