Spain has similar population, area and climate to California, and even though it has less GDP it has built some good high speed trains infrastructure. I can see

Spain has similar population, area and climate to California, and even though it has less GDP it has built some good high speed trains infrastructure. I can see your point if the alternative is travelling by car, but if you're going to take planes the train can be a viable option. There are plenty of big urban centres in California that can support public transit.