High-Speed Rail Peer Review Panel Misses Mark

Statement by California Labor Federation Executive Secretary-Treasurer Art Pulaski

“Today’s Peer Review Panel report on the California high-speed rail project misses the mark. With California facing a jobs crisis and an urgency to upgrade our failing transportation infrastructure, further delay in breaking ground on high-speed rail is neither prudent nor responsible.

“Any project that’s the size and scope of high-speed rail is bound to encounter difficulties along the way. But rather than working to implement the vision of high-speed rail, the panel suggests derailing the project at a critical stage, which would put billions in federal funding at risk. That’s not a viable solution for California.

“Under new leadership, the California High-Speed Rail Authority is headed in the right direction. The Authority’s business plan addresses the myriad issues facing high-speed rail in a thoughtful and thorough way. The plan offers a roadmap to realizing what is the most important and visionary public works project in decades.

“In the short term, the project will create thousands of desperately needed jobs to help lift our state out of economic morass. In the long term, high-speed rail will deliver a world-class, environmentally friendly transportation system that will transform our state. Now is not the time to back away from the high-speed rail vision. An investment in high-speed rail is an investment in our state’s future. The Legislature must grant voter-approved bonds so that work can begin on the project this year.”

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