Bay Area Council Urges State and Federal Leaders to Invest in High-Speed Rail

The Bay Area Council joined with three former US Transportation Secretaries, who chair the US High Speed Rail Coalition, and a diverse coalition of dozens of other organizations to urge State Senate and Assembly leaders to approve $4.2 billion in bond funding for the California High-Speed Rail project included in Governor Newsom’s proposed FY 2022-2023 budget.
 
The coalition letter makes the case that approving the proposed budget funding could unlock financial support at the federal level which, taken together, will accelerate work to complete the project’s initial operating segment in the Central Valley while advancing construction on critical bookends in the Los Angeles Basin and the Bay Area.
 
The Council also joined with the US High Speed Rail Coalition to call on the U.S. Senate to appropriate $3.5 billion of funding for high-speed rail in the upcoming transportation appropriation bill. The Council will be leading an advocacy delegation to D.C. next week to meet with Senators and federal transportation authorities and will be pressing for the funding. Thank you to Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Sen. Alex Padilla for committing to support the funding request. To engage in the Council’s transportation policy work, please contact Senior Vice President Gwen Litvak.