Last week's ballot brought us this intriguing transit trifecta:
The multibillion-dollar bullet train, you know about. But voters also approved funds for a "subway to the sea" in Los Angeles and a tiny streetcar line in West Sacramento.
And they did it despite an economy and state budget stuck in one of the biggest financial potholes ever.
In fact, election watchers – sounding a bit surprised – say voters appear to have said yes because of the bad economy.
Normally, people prefer their tax money go toward building and fixing roads, and maybe some to buses.
So, what happened?
Fluctuating gas prices, for one, are changing how people view their future travel. Congestion, too.
Rail advocates didn't rely on that, though. They borrowed a page from the days of big freeway builds. They trumpeted the projects as job producers and economic engines.
Least surprising of the three was the Los Angeles sales tax vote to finance a subway and other traffic congestion relief projects:
Angelenos spend more time in traffic and more money on gas than anyone in the state.
West Sacramento voters' support of a streetcar line is more of an eye-opener.
It helped that the sales tax measure included money for flood control, a serious public safety issue.
City officials put the word out that a streetcar would be a snazzy economic development tool – creating a "fun" sense of place on the West Sacramento waterfront, which in turn would speed arrival of jobs and housing.
The bullet train's statewide 11th-hour win was most dramatic.
In July, it was riding high; 56 percent favored it.
Then came the budget crisis, economic crash, and job worries. Support dropped to 47 percent a week before the election.
The question voters faced: Why add $10 billion in debt to a broken state budget?
In response, proponents did something clever, the Field Poll's Mark DiCamillo said. They focused their last-minute radio campaign on hundreds of thousands of jobs they say a bullet train would bring to the state.
Younger voters with a longer view into the future also appeared to have played a role in the measure's close margin of victory.
Kevin Powers, 22, of Sacramento is among activists at the California Public Interest Research Group who used e-mail chains and cell phone banking to win votes for a "cool" project and an investment in the state's future.
In Powers' view of the California of tomorrow, rail needs to take a place alongside cars and planes if residents are going to keep moving.
Last week's vote definitely has a futuristic, if eclectic look.
Someday, a West Sacramento businessman may hop a streetcar 10 minutes to the downtown depot, take a two-hour bullet train to L.A., then catch the subway to a lunch meeting by the sea.
Call The Bee's Tony Bizjak, (916) 321-1059.
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