HSR Talking Points
Travel from Bay Area to Los Angeles in about 2.5 hours
- High Speed Rail is a proven technology that has been in use in Europe and Asia for over 40 years with an excellent safety record.
- Construction of the High Speed Rail system in California will be transformative for the state, stimulating the economy, focusing development, creating an estimated 450,000 jobs and protecting the environment.
- High Speed Rail will benefit all Californians, whether they live in urban, suburban, or rural areas.
o High Speed Rail will ease congestion in urban areas,
o bring suburban and ex-urban areas closer to major business centers, and
o revitalize the downtowns of many of our smaller Central Valley cities.
- If we don't build High-Speed Rail, California will need to spend twice as much money to expand freeways and airports to provide the same level of mobility. Expanding freeways and airports is in many places not an option and will harm surrounding communities and the environment.
o to upgrade US-99 between Sacramento and Bakersfield to become I-9 will cost about as much as the entire California HSR project -- and such a highway expansion would become clogged with single-occupancy vehicles very quickly.
- High Speed Rail will be much more convenient:
o High Speed Rail is not affected by weather or traffic delays.
o Downtown to downtown San Francisco to Los Angeles in about two and a half hours, saving travelers time and the hassle of airport parking and check-in.
o SFO, Burbank and Ontario airports will be more easily accessible, for more Californians, especially those in the Central Valley.
- High Speed Rail will provide significant environmental benefits: the trains run on electricity, which will
o decrease our reliance on fossil fuels.
- California has always led the rest of the country in creating technology and protecting the environment: it’s time for California to lead the way again – towards safe, convenient, comfortable and clean travel.