Former Transportation Secretary Goes to Bat for California High Speed Rail

An op/ed about high speed rail in CalMatters calls for the legislature to step up now to more fully fund the project.

By Damien Newton

1:53 PM PDT on April 10, 2025

Former Transportation Secretary Goes to Bat for California High Speed Rail

Image edited by Damien Newton with Canva.

President Donald Trump and US Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy have made no secret of their desire to defund what they term “woke” transportation projects, i.e. any one that reduces reliance on automobiles. And while New York’s congestion pricing has been at the center of their crosshairs, California High Speed Rail has been an ongoing target for Trump going back to his previous term in office.

High Speed Rail has not had many defenders in the media although it remains popular with California voters. While recognizing that the project has had its setbacks and disappointments since voters first approved a bond to construct the project in 2008, sometimes it feels that Streetsblog is alone when it comes to covering the projects’ successes.

Which is one reason we were happy to see an opinion piece in CalMatters yesterday by Ray LaHood. LaHood served as Secretary of Transportation under Democratic President Barack Obama and was previously a Republican Congressmember from Illinois.

In “New plan to accelerate California high-speed rail construction deserves attention, support,” LaHood praises the new leadership at the California High Speed Rail Authority. He writes that he hopes to see aggressive implementation of their newest plan.

Meanwhile, almost no one is talking about the California High-Speed Rail Authority’s aggressive new leader and his dramatic efforts to accelerate construction of the bullet train…

…If the Legislature carves out a robust, fixed-dollar amount for California high-speed rail moving forward, paired with a state backstop, Choudri believes he can leverage this income stream to secure billions in private financing and fill the remaining funding gap

To read the rest of the article, visit CalMatters..

Damien Newton

CA High-Speed Rail Authority (CAHSRA) | State Agencies | Streetsblog California | Streetsblog Sister Sites

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