From NARP 10-27-2017
Paul Dyson, President of the Rail Passenger Association of California and Nevada, wrote to The Los Angeles Times following a story that again criticized the development of California’s high speed rail line and its cost due to the tunnel under the Pacheco Pass. The story said, “A Times analysis has found that tunnel construction could exhaust the $5.5-billion budget for the entire 54-mile segment from Gilroy to Chowchilla.”
In his Letter to the Editor, Dyson wrote that the Times is lacking, “any analysis of the alternatives for moving people between affordable housing and jobs, and for improving mobility in general.”
And he’s not wrong.
HSR in California will be life-changing to the communities around it. It has already created jobs for construction, but it will create long-term jobs once it’s open, provide opportunities to people to get to other well-paying jobs in different cities, and help create a strong economy for local communities and major cities, as well as the state of California. Without HSR, people without other transportation alternatives will never be able to take advantages of the opportunities that could be available to them.