Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Bringing High-Speed Rail to California, One Building Block at a Time
gvw_calmatters
By CalMatters
Published 5 years ago on
June 28, 2019

Share

California has long been the leader in innovation, bold action and tackling projects that others wouldn’t dream of. The state highway system, BART, and the Golden Gate Bridge stand out as prime examples of challenging projects that were seen through, and today benefit millions. The vision for high-speed rail is no different.


Lenny Mendonca
Special to CALmatters

Opinion
While I have been following the high-speed rail project at a high level for years, it is only recently, when I became chairman of the California High-Speed Rail Authority’s board of directors, that I became acutely aware of the benefits this project presents for the state of California.
High-speed rail at its core holds fundamental, economic and environmental promise for the hardworking men and women who call California home.
The Central Valley, where 119 miles are under active construction, is an area rich with roots and history. Growing up in Turlock, I can attest to the importance, economic benefit and attention high-speed rail is bringing to the Valley. I hear it each time I visit the region.
To hear some say this project is something that is not important to California is insulting. Ensuring we are all connected is essential to the California Dream. It always has been, and it always will be.

Building Block Approach Starting in Central Valley Makes Sense

The authority has been in construction in the Central Valley since 2015, putting more than 2,600 men and women to work building the first 119 miles of high-speed rail. Bridges, viaducts, grade separations, and other civic works that will make up part of the Phase 1 system all are underway.
When voters in 2008 approved Proposition 1A, the bond measure that provided $9.95 billion to commence construction of a high-speed rail service connecting San Francisco to Los Angeles/Anaheim, they chose a transformative mobility option for themselves and for future generations.
In a state the size of California, high-speed rail service will make huge impacts. Travel times between the Bay Area and the Los Angeles Basin will be reduced from 12 hours by conventional rail, or seven to eight hours by car, to less than three hours by high-speed rail.
The service promises to link California’s major economic and population centers by connecting the cities of the Central Valley with the coastal regions of Northern and Southern California and beyond.
As the state rail plan laid out, high-speed rail will serve as the backbone for a larger, more integrated passenger rail network. These mobility options will allow Californians to move as they never have before.
The building block approach starting in the Central Valley makes sense.
This economic investment and connectivity is vital for the millions of Californians who call the Central Valley home. It’s the vision voters approved in 2008, and the mission to complete that vision remains unchanged.

High-Speed Rail Authority Must Live Within Its Means

While our federal partners have disengaged, this is not indicative of the past working relationship we’ve had with them. We remain committed to fighting what we believe to be an unwarranted attack on the state, and remain hopeful that at some point they will re-engage in what has historically been a positive partnership in large scale transportation projects.
While the federal disengagement is not ideal, the authority is moving forward. The recently released 2019 Project Update Report lays out the path to expand economic benefits while demonstrating the environmental and mobility benefits that high-speed rail can deliver, even in a constrained funding environment.
The analysis done by the authority’s Early Train Operator shows the best option for early interim service in the Central Valley is to develop a line between Merced, Fresno and Bakersfield, and provide faster travel and greater connectivity in and beyond that 171-mile stretch, with better connections for travelers to the Bay Area, Sacramento and the Los Angeles Basin.
The authority must live within its means. That means completing a segment it can fund with available revenue, and getting trains on the ground to show Californians what high-speed rail service in California can do.
The High-Speed Rail Authority will expand the entire system as envisioned, connecting a revitalized Central Valley to the Bay Area and Southern California as more funding becomes available.

Let’s Get on With It

This is the building block approach described in the 2018 Business Plan adopted by the authority one year ago.
To that end, the authority is investing nearly $1.4 billion in the corridor between San Francisco, San Jose and Merced. That includes completing environmental reviews and contributing $713 million to the Caltrain Electrification Project, with regional partners in high priority environmental reviews and early mobility projects to pave the way for future high-speed rail connections.
Concurrently, investments are being made in Southern California as well.
Over $1.2 billion in the L.A. Basin in concert with our regional partners is dedicated to complete environmental reviews from Bakersfield to Anaheim and high-priority bookend projects, including $441 million for Los Angeles Union Station improvements.
The authority continues to pursue the best option to begin early service in the only part of the state where we are under construction on truly high-speed rail assets — the Central Valley. This is the right thing to do because, candidly, it is time to get high-speed, electric trains operating in California.
Let’s get on with it.
About the Author
Lenny Mendonca is chairman of the California High-Speed Rail Authority board of directors, chief economic and business advisor to Gov. Gavin Newsom, and director of the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz). He can be reached at lenny.mendonca@gobiz.ca.gov. He wrote this commentary for CALmatters, a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how California’s Capitol works and why it matters.
Please see his past commentaries for CAlmatters here and here.
[activecampaign form=19]

DON'T MISS

Trump Chooses Pam Bondi for Attorney General Pick After Gaetz Withdraws

DON'T MISS

Average Rate on a 30-Year Mortgage in the US Rises to Highest Level Since July

DON'T MISS

Cutting in Line? American Airlines’ New Boarding Tech Might Stop You at Now Over 100 Airports

DON'T MISS

MLB Will Test Robot Umpires at 13 Spring Training Ballparks Hosting 19 Teams

DON'T MISS

Death Toll in Gaza From Israel-Hamas War Passes 44,000, Palestinian Officials Say

DON'T MISS

Jussie Smollett’s Conviction in 2019 Attack on Himself Is Overturned

DON'T MISS

Fresno Council Lowers Speed Limits on Friant and Audubon

DON'T MISS

How About an Honest Conversation About the Range of Light Monument Proposal?

DON'T MISS

UConn Coach Geno Auriemma Breaks NCAA Wins Record With 1,217th Victory

DON'T MISS

Fresno Doctors Will Pay $2.4 Million to Settle Kickback Allegations, DOJ Says

UP NEXT

Average Rate on a 30-Year Mortgage in the US Rises to Highest Level Since July

UP NEXT

Cutting in Line? American Airlines’ New Boarding Tech Might Stop You at Now Over 100 Airports

UP NEXT

MLB Will Test Robot Umpires at 13 Spring Training Ballparks Hosting 19 Teams

UP NEXT

Death Toll in Gaza From Israel-Hamas War Passes 44,000, Palestinian Officials Say

UP NEXT

Jussie Smollett’s Conviction in 2019 Attack on Himself Is Overturned

UP NEXT

Fresno Council Lowers Speed Limits on Friant and Audubon

UP NEXT

How About an Honest Conversation About the Range of Light Monument Proposal?

UP NEXT

UConn Coach Geno Auriemma Breaks NCAA Wins Record With 1,217th Victory

UP NEXT

Fresno Doctors Will Pay $2.4 Million to Settle Kickback Allegations, DOJ Says

UP NEXT

Warriors Guard De’Anthony Melton to Undergo Season-Ending Knee Surgery

MLB Will Test Robot Umpires at 13 Spring Training Ballparks Hosting 19 Teams

51 minutes ago

Death Toll in Gaza From Israel-Hamas War Passes 44,000, Palestinian Officials Say

1 hour ago

Jussie Smollett’s Conviction in 2019 Attack on Himself Is Overturned

1 hour ago

Fresno Council Lowers Speed Limits on Friant and Audubon

1 hour ago

How About an Honest Conversation About the Range of Light Monument Proposal?

3 hours ago

UConn Coach Geno Auriemma Breaks NCAA Wins Record With 1,217th Victory

3 hours ago

Fresno Doctors Will Pay $2.4 Million to Settle Kickback Allegations, DOJ Says

3 hours ago

Warriors Guard De’Anthony Melton to Undergo Season-Ending Knee Surgery

3 hours ago

Massive Ground Beef Recall Affects Restaurants Nationwide, USDA Warns

3 hours ago

Chris Stapleton Wins 4 CMA Awards, but Morgan Wallen Is Entertainer of the Year

4 hours ago

Trump Chooses Pam Bondi for Attorney General Pick After Gaetz Withdraws

WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday named Pam Bondi, the former attorney general of Florida, to be U.S. attorney general j...

4 minutes ago

Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, speaks before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives to speak at a campaign rally at First Horizon Coliseum, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, in Greensboro, NC. (AP/Alex Brandon)
4 minutes ago

Trump Chooses Pam Bondi for Attorney General Pick After Gaetz Withdraws

27 minutes ago

Average Rate on a 30-Year Mortgage in the US Rises to Highest Level Since July

32 minutes ago

Cutting in Line? American Airlines’ New Boarding Tech Might Stop You at Now Over 100 Airports

51 minutes ago

MLB Will Test Robot Umpires at 13 Spring Training Ballparks Hosting 19 Teams

1 hour ago

Death Toll in Gaza From Israel-Hamas War Passes 44,000, Palestinian Officials Say

1 hour ago

Jussie Smollett’s Conviction in 2019 Attack on Himself Is Overturned

Fresno motorcycle cop enforces the 45 mph speed limit
1 hour ago

Fresno Council Lowers Speed Limits on Friant and Audubon

3 hours ago

How About an Honest Conversation About the Range of Light Monument Proposal?

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend