Yee Fights to Save SF-to-LA High Speed Rail
Dateline:
07/02/2008While there were many positive provisions of the bill, including establishing accountability standards and an independent review, the original proposal before the Committee attempted to weaken requirements on how the money is to be spent. Specifically, the bill called for allowing small corridors to be built between various metropolitan hubs without any mainline connection from San Francisco to Los Angeles – the original proposal supported by most high speed rail advocates and environmentalists.
At the urging of Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco/San Mateo), the Committee restored language for the bond funding to be used on the "backbone" of the high speed rail project, ensuring that the line begins and ends at the San Francisco Transbay Terminal and runs through the San Joaquin and Antelope Valleys, stopping in Los Angeles before ending in Anaheim. Other Bay Area stops would likely include San Jose, Palo Alto or Redwood City, and the San Francisco International Airport.
"The high speed rail bond has always been about finding ways to get millions of people out of cars and airplanes and into a cost-saving and environmentally-sound transportation portal," said Yee. "A piecemeal approach is not what is best for commuters, visitors, or the economy, and is certainly not what is best for our environment. As an advocate for high speed rail, I will continue to be steadfast in securing the San Francisco to Los Angeles corridor of the bullet train and then branching out to other cities."
"AB 3034 now has some great amendments, including Senator Yee's plan to restore the primacy of Los Angeles to San Francisco," said Robert Cruickshank of the California High Speed Rail Blog and contributing editor to Calitics.com. "The Senate version of this bill is superior. Los Angeles to San Francisco is necessary to be the spine of the project and the notion of building it in pieces was always a poor approach to the project´s politics and efficiency. The original plan and amendment made by Senator Yee are sound: Los Angeles to San Francisco first, then the extensions to San Diego and Sacramento as a guaranteed Phase II. Rome wasn´t built in a day, neither will high speed rail."
AB 3034 must now be approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee before full votes by the Senate and Assembly.
Source:
California Chornicle - Login to post comments
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