Politics & Government

Lynn Schenk: Why California Needs High-Speed Rail

California High Speed Rail Authority vice chair responds to Patch columnist.

Editor's Note: This is a response to Patch columnist Colleen O'Connor's column titled, "8 Great Reasons to Shoot the California Bullet Train."

In a state that prides itself on innovative and unique problem solving, high-speed rail is the solution to many of our state’s current and future problems.

With many Californians out of work, high-speed rail is poised to bring tens of thousands of good, family-supporting jobs to our state—jobs not just to build the trains and the train line, but also jobs to operate and maintain it. Building just the first phase of the project—from Los Angeles to San Francisco—will mean nearly 100,000 jobs during peak construction.

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Why else do Californians support high-speed rail? It’ll improve air quality, lessen congestion on our roads and support transportation needs for our state’s rapid population growth.

The system will run 100 percent on electricity, which means that electricity can be produced from clean sources like wind, solar and more, improving our state’s air quality year after year.

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There is no room to argue the fact that California is growing and that we have to accommodate that growth. We expect to have about 50 million people in this state by 2035, and high-speed rail will help get us where we need to go.

Some say why not widen our roads and build more airports? Won’t that be cheaper?

Building more roads is an option, but also consider that a freeway requires significantly more right-of-way than we propose for high-speed rail—which will be 120 feet or less. What’s more, the cost of building a high-speed rail system is still a cheaper and better alternative to widening freeways throughout the state and building more airports. Over the next two decades, California’s high-speed train will alleviate the need to spend more than $100 billion to build 3,000 miles of new freeway, five airport runways, and 90 departure gates.

It is entirely appropriate that no project of this scope is going to be free of debate, some things are indisputable. We know that California is growing. Those people—and the goods and services they need—will have to move around our state.

Without question, California’s high-speed rail system is a job creator. It will improve our environment and get Californians where they need to go. In the end, it is a safe, clean, fast and affordable way to travel that improves California’s economy and quality of life.

- Lynn Schenk is an attorney and senior corporate advisor. She has served on the Authority Board since 2003 and is currently Vice Chair of the Board.


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