>>871287It could certainly happen. A lot of factors, especially ones outside California's control, mean the end of it's highway-dominated system.
First of all, there's the borderline anarchists in DC who surprisingly support the transit-oriented Grow America Act which would redo how transportation planning is done. Why do they support such a thing? Because it means they could be allowed to gut the Federal Highway Administration entirely (they've bailed it out twice since 2000) and more importantly would allow states to easily toll or privatize freeways.
Mind you, California's highway system was mostly built/funded by the federal government in the 1950s and 60s with a 50-60 year lifespan. This is why so many are shitty to drive on now, because they're rapidly aging and need extensive refurbishing. Given the immense cost of this, especially as federal money for it dries up, and the fact that the state can't afford to fix all it's roads right now, you're looking at a mass freeway genocide in the next 10-30 years as cities are forced to choose between rebuilding them or removing them. Since cities are gentrifying and suburbs are urbanizing, the shift will continue to work against the freeways. The ones that survive will be tolled so they can pay for themselves, like transit agencies do with fares. Already the Embarcedero Freeway was torn down in 1992, expect 980, West Oakland 880 and southeastern SF 101 to go next. I-5 over in Sacramento could be torn out as well.
Now if a massive quake were to happen, it's more likely that freeways would break apart than railroads. BART was running trains 12 hours after Loma Prieta hit as was SP and Amtrak. In 1990 Oakland replaced the collapsed Cypress Freeway with the Nimitz Freeway, that won't happen again especially when Phase II of CAHSR starts around 2025 and Oakland will have to fix it's downtown rail mess.
