“We couldn’t be more thrilled with voters’ approval of Prop 1A. With this vote, Californians decided to reduce our oil dependence, to build alternatives to traffic and long airport lines, and to help solve global warming. Californians were also voting to boost the economy.
“Prop 1A is another historic example of California leading the nation. This vote confirms California’s commitment to building high-speed rail. Now California leaders must continue fighting for the project in order to start laying the tracks as quickly as possible. Before we spend bond funds on construction, Congress and private companies will have to match California’s commitment to the train. We need that to happen quickly because this project cannot be delayed any longer. We saw gas prices hover well above $4 a gallon in California all summer. California has three of the top five most congested regions in the country, costing commuters billions in time and money. Continued oil dependence puts our environment, our economy, and national security at risk. And we know that we need to take dramatic steps now in order to prevent the most devastating impacts of global warming. For all of these reasons, Californians urgently need the high-speed train up and running.”
CALPIRG and our student chapters launched a campaign more than one year ago to build the support necessary to keep the high-speed rail project on track.
Earlier this year:
* Our citizen outreach staff had face-to-face conversations with more than 120,000 Californians to educate the public about the proposed high-speed rail project.
* In March, CALPIRG Students organized 50 college students to participate in a spring break tour of the high-speed rail route, holding nine different media events along the way and meeting with two dozen elected officials to raise critical visibility and support for the project.
* Throughout the spring and summer CALPIRG advocates worked with Assemblywoman Cathleen Galgiani, Assemblywoman Fiona Ma, and other tireless supporters in the legislature to pass AB 3034 and put Prop 1A on the ballot. When the bill passed we collected more than 2,000 petition signatures to the governor, urging him to sign the bill.
Since Prop 1A was put on the ballot in September:
* CALPIRG organized nine different educational forums on college campuses, inviting speakers to educate the campus community about Prop 1A.
* We authored op-eds and commented to the media on the benefits of the project in print media, television and radio stations.
* We helped reach out to elected officials and other organizations to build the expansive list of endorsements for Prop 1A.
* We’ve held dozens of visibility events on street corners, on college campuses, at airports, and on freeway overpasses to raise awareness about Prop 1A.
* In the final weeks we made a video and organized a day of action that reached out to more than 200,000 Californians, mostly college students, to urge their peers to vote “yes” on Prop 1A.
“CALPIRG will be there to make sure that the commitments of Prop 1A are met, and to make sure that the public is protected in the process of rolling out this project and enlisting contractors.
“Luckily, California leaders like Speaker Pelosi, Senator Feinstein, Congressman Jim Costa, and many others in Congress are strong supporters of high-speed rail. We thank them, and so many others, for their past leadership. We urge them to stay the course and see this project through.
“Looking ahead, the impacts of Prop 1A’s passage extend well beyond California. Other regions, from the Midwest to Florida, are also considering high-speed rail to help meet their growing transportation needs. With this vote, California is again leading the way. I look forward to riding the train!”
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CALPIRG takes on powerful interests on behalf of Californians, working to win concrete results for our health and well-being. With researchers, advocates, organizers and students, we stand up to powerful special interests to protect consumers, advocate transportation solutions, fight political corruption, expand access to quality, affordable health care, and more.
