Sacramento, CA – Today CALPIRG staff and activists called on voters to
support Proposition 1A, a ballot initiative to fund construction of
California’s proposed high-speed rail bullet train system.
Standing
on the corner of 16th and P street with large signs and banners that
said, “I’d Rather Be Riding High-Speed Rail,” the supporters handed out
flyers to pedestrians asking them to vote for Proposition 1A on
November 4th.
“With our growing population, California will need
either more highways or alternatives like high-speed rail. High-speed
rail is cheaper to build, faster to ride, and far less polluting than
the alternatives,” said Kevin Powers, CALPIRG’s Field Organizer.
Throughout
July and August CALPIRG staff went door-to-door and stood on busy
street corners, educating the public about the proposed high-speed rail
project. This summer, the citizen outreach focused on the high-speed
rail project as one of CALPIRG’s top priorities for the year.
The
high-speed rail line will connect California’s major cities, traveling
from San Francisco to Los Angles, for example, in just over two and a
half hours. High-speed rail would use one-fifth of the energy of cars
to move the same number of passengers – reducing our state’s oil
dependence and cutting harmful pollution. High-speed rail is also
estimated to cost less than half of the highway and airport expansions
California will need to build without it.
Legislation pending
in Congress, including bills already passed by the House and the
Senate, sets aside some federal funding for high-speed rail.
Proposition 1A gives voters the opportunity to build a world-class
transportation system in California.
