Getting on the fast track

The bullet train promised to revolutionize travel in California, zipping passengers between L.A. and San Francisco in three hours. But years after voters approved the project and billions of dollars later plans have been scaled way back, and there’s still no train. Zocalo Public Square commentator Joe Mathews says the High Speed Rail Authority was never up to such a difficult task, Moreover, the state’s political leaders never fully bought in. But all is not lost. Mathews found some inspiration in Taiwan, where a new bullet train is transforming transportation.