Sign Our Petition to Stop the High-Speed Rail!
Join us and many other Californians who want to put the High-Speed Rail Project on the ballot for another vote! Provide your information below to sign the petition. Signed petitions will be sorted by address into legislative districts, and your petition will be delivered to your representatives in the State Senate and Assembly.
PETITION TO PUT THE HIGH-SPEED RAIL BOONDOGGLE ON THE BALLOT FOR ANOTHER VOTE!
WHEREAS: High-speed rail proponents initially estimated the high-speed rail project would cost $45 billion. The most recent estimate from the Legislative Analyst’s Office now says the project could cost up to $98.1 billion.
WHEREAS: Cost estimates for the project’s initial 119-mile Central Valley segment recently increased to $10.6 billion — up 77 percent from initial estimates. This segment, which will be built on flat land, is the project’s least geologically complex, raising concerns about even greater cost overruns on future segments in hilly and urban terrain.
WHEREAS: Financial plans originally offered by proponents claimed the majority of financing would come from Federal and private dollars. However, a decade after the project was approved by California voters, these funds still have not materialized.
WHEREAS: The project is currently seven years behind schedule. The High-Speed Rail Authority recently stated the project will not be operational until 2033, four years later than their last projection.
WHEREAS: The High-Speed Rail Authority currently owns 1,272 parcels in the Central Valley, consisting of vacant lots, abandoned commercial buildings, and construction sites. Community members where these parcels are located say they endanger public safety by creating a magnet for squatters, vandals and thieves.
WHEREAS: Planners have acknowledged portions of the route will no longer run at high speeds. Recent reports have revealed that 30 miles of track will not run at the high speeds originally anticipated.
WHEREAS: California has numerous more important priorities on which the $100 billion high-speed rail price tag would be better spent.
WHEREAS: The High-Speed Rail Authority’s own Chair, Dan Richard, recently stated he would accept another vote on the high-speed rail project.
BE IT RESOLVED: High-speed rail should go back to the ballot for Californians to vote! This boondoggle is over budget and behind schedule, has failed to secure the promised financing, and in some locations won’t even run at high speeds!