California Has A Plan For 140 MPH Buses

Caltrans, otherwise known as the California Department of Transportation, has pitched a new mass-transit alternative to high-speed rail: high-speed buses. The proposal says that buses could be engineered to operate at speeds between 80 and 140 miles per hour for long express routes. The idea is to connect areas that wouldn't be serviced by rail. The new bus rapid transit (BRT) network would use new dedicated bus lanes that would run alongside normal traffic.

Interstates 80 and 5, in addition to Route 101, could create high-speed connections between cities like San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. At 100 mph, the transit time between LA and San Francisco would be under four hours, says Caltrans feasibility studies manager Ryan Snyder, who spoke with KQED. It's not as good as the two-hour-ish transit time floated by high-speed rail options, but it's also a much cheaper way to get things moving.

The addition of high-speed bus lines has a significant economic advantage compared to high-speed rail. Buses simply cost less, but in order for them to operate at the speeds proposed by Caltrans, significant infrastructure upgrades would have to be made. The state's infrastructure simply doesn't have roadways that can handle that kind of speed. Other factors, like the road's surface, visibility, and upkeep, also make putting the proposition into action difficult. California has danced around meaningful infrastructure investment beyond surface streets and highways, despite making plans for high-speed rail networks that the state says would connect far-apart cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco.

This story was originally published by Men's Journal on May 19, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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This story was originally published May 19, 2026 at 10:56 AM.