Californians Continue to Love High-Speed Rail, Even if Republicans in Washington D.C. Don’t

Earlier today, U.S. High Speed Rail, a non-profit advocacy group co-chaired by former Republican Congressman and USDOT Secretary Ray LaHood, released the results of a new poll of California voters. The poll showed that the CA High-Speed Rail project remains popular with California voters. This continues despite non-stop nonsensical attacks from elected officials in the Trump Administration and here in California that have somehow escalated in the past six months.

62% of California voters, including 80% of Democrats, support building the project. The poll also breaks down approval by age, showing that as voters get younger they are more likely to support the project. 79% of Gen Zers, 72% of Millennials, 56% of Gen Xers, and 48% of Baby Boomers want to see the rail line built.

Support for rail is hardly news. These latest results are in line with polls Streetsblog has covered in the past. Since 2008 when voters passed a ballot measure to dedicate $10 billion for the project, voter polling has consistently shown support for the project even as it faced delays and higher-than-expected costs. 

But one person who is not a fan of the California High-Speed Rail project is Congressmember James Comer (R-KY) who chairs the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Earlier this week, Comer wrote to USDOT Secretary Sean Duffy to ask for a “staff level briefing” to aid his committee’s new investigation into whether or not CAHSR committed fraud it it “knowingly misrepresented ridership projections and financial viability of the rail system when it applied for federal and state funds.”

“The massive cost overruns and lack of progress warrant a reassessment of whether CHSRA acted with transparency and complied with the law,” wrote Comer in a press statement.

Circa 2008, early estimates for L.A.-S.F. high-speed rail were roughly $33 billion. Currently estimates for just the Central Valley spine are higher than that, $35 billion. Estimates for the entire project range between $89 billion and $128 billion. There are several reasons that the anticipated costs have increased; none of them have to do with fraud.

It’s doubtful even former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican who led California when the state created the first estimates, would argue that the original cost estimates for the project were good. It’s also not fair to blame the current Republican White House for all of the CAHSR’s financial woes.

Back in March, after Duffy essentially announced the results of the CAHSR investigation he was just about to start, Adriana Rizzo debunked Duffy’s arguments. Since Comer is just parroting Duffy, Streetsblog will save breath and point readers toward that March post.

Duffy welcomes the Comer witch hu... er, ... investigation, and the potential political coverage it may bring him. USDOT recently rescinded $4 billion in federal grant money awarded during the Biden Administration for CAHSR. California responded with a lawsuit claims USDOT doesn’t have the authority to weasel out of signed funding agreements.

No word on whether Duffy will rescind... er... investigate any federal funding for freeway expansion projects that experienced cost overruns, or failed to meet their faulty projections for metrics like cleaner air or reduced car congestion.

Yesterday, Streetsblog had a little fun with Comer’s announcement and the disconnect between Washington, D.C. bluster and the reality that High-Speed Rail construction is making progress in California. Watch at Tik Tok (embed below). The video can also be seen on Facebook Reels, YouTube Shorts, and Instagram.