“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!”
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.
