A high-speed train proposed to run from San Diego to Los Angeles to San Francisco and Sacramento could create 45,000 jobs in San Diego alone, according to a study released Sept. 24 by the San Diego Institute for Policy Research.

Of course, the ballot measure called Proposition 1A authorizing the issuance of a $9.95 billion bond must first be approved by a majority of the state’s voters on Nov. 4.

But the institute, a think tank funded by former mayoral candidate Steve Francis, says in its report the investment is well worth the cost.

“The obvious benefits of high-speed rail include lowered transportation costs, time savings compared to automobile trips, less congestion at Lindbergh Field, a community more attractive to businesses and safer highways resulting from fewer vehicle trips,” said Lynn Schenk, San Diego’s representative on the California High Speed Rail Authority, and a former San Diego congresswoman.

An estimate on the total cost of the bullet train, from Los Angeles to San Francisco, is about $32 billion. The trains would travel about 220 miles per hour.

— Mike Allen