Overview
California has a choice to make. One the one hand, we could hope that by spending billions each year on roads and highways, we will meet our transportation needs. But California’s dependence on cars comes with high costs for our health and quality of life. Commuters in California’s biggest cities spend an additional 60-70 hours behind the wheel each year due to traffic congestion. What’s more, forty-one percent of California’s global warming pollution comes from cars. Even as we develop cleaner fuels, current projections for growing car and airline travel will make it difficult to meet our state’s commitments to reducing global warming pollution.
A better solution is on the table. High speed rail will allow Californians to travel from the Bay Area to Los Angeles in two and a half hours, without the hassle of the airport. High speed rail is predicted to take up to 92 million drivers off the road annually and attract 18 million travelers who would otherwise fly. In doing so, high speed rail would eliminate the need for construction of 2,970 additional highway miles and 91 airport gates.
In fact, although the price tag of $40 billion to build the entire route may seem daunting, developing high speed rail will be less than half the cost of the road and airport expansions we’ll need without it. For example, just meeting interstate requirements for Highway 99 in the Central Valley and widening it to eight lanes would cost between $20 billion and $25 billion.
For too long, California’s leaders have let roads take precedence over other transportation options that could help meet our travel needs with lower costs and less pollution. Working closely with other high speed rail supporters, from business leaders to environmentalists, CALPIRG is helping create the momentum needed to secure funding and start laying the tracks.
