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Friends of the Fourth
District:
One of the most overlooked aspects of governing is the challenge to
balance the demands of today with the needs of tomorrow. My
colleagues and I on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors face
the daunting task of allocating a finite amount of taxpayer dollars
to social service and health care “safety net” programs, to public
safety, to parks and recreation, and to a wide range of other local
government programs upon which our constituents depend and rely.
Unfortunately, at times we simply move from current challenge to
current challenge and forget to plan adequately for the future.
The current status of high-speed rail in California is a telling
example of how today’s government gridlock will only lead to future
gridlock throughout our state, especially in Southern California, on
our roads and freeways, and at our airports and ports.
As an elected official, I am often asked to do something about our
transportation problems today. But I also have a responsibility to
address the opportunities for transportation innovations for
tomorrow.
California’s population is expected to increase by as many as 20
million people in the next 20 years—and the demands on our
transportation infrastructure will increase significantly as well.
We all know our streets and freeways are already crowded.
Particularly in a post 9/11 world, air travel has become
time-consuming and arduous. Trucks and trains carrying goods are
stuck in traffic, adding to air pollution, traffic congestion, and
the traveling public’s inconvenience.
High-speed rail is an essential component of our multi-modal answer
to our transportation future. For the past decade the California
High-Speed Rail Authority has struggled to generate the backing it
needs to do the planning required to win government and public
support. The case for high-speed rail is more persuasive than ever,
and the future must begin now.
High-speed rail can provide the safest and most reliable mode of
travel between the major cities of California, serving tourist and
leisure travelers, business travelers, and long-distance commuters,
and do so in travel times faster than air travel and less than one
half as long as automobile travel times between Northern and
Southern California metropolitan areas.
Given that the Los Angeles-San Francisco air corridor is among the
most highly-trafficked in the world, these benefits will be
meaningful to all of us in Southern California, travelers and
commuters alike.
High-speed rail will be a boon to smart development practices
throughout the region and state. Transit-oriented development will
be encouraged near stations, saving significant amounts of land from
suburban sprawl from Southern California through the Central Valley.
Joint facilities will benefit the operations of freight, commuter,
and conventional passenger rail, which in turn will stimulate the
economy and improve the quality of life throughout the state.
High-speed rail’s impact on our environment is particularly
compelling. Air and noise pollution across the state would decrease.
Under the current fuel economy standards, for example, a 330-mile
trip from Los Angeles to San Francisco results in 204 pounds of
carbon dioxide emissions by air, 175 pounds of carbon dioxide
emissions by car, but only 73 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions by
the proposed high-speed rail. High-speed rail could remove as many
as the equivalent of one million vehicle trips annually from state
roads. As a result, it could not only reduce significantly carbon
dioxide emissions that cause global warming, but it will also reduce
our dependence on foreign oil by as much as 22 million barrels of
oil per year.
California’s landmark legislation, AB 32, requires greenhouse gases
to return to 1990 levels by 2020, and, with 40% of our state’s
greenhouse gas emissions coming from transportation, it is unlikely
we can meet this vital mandate unless we build a high-speed rail
network that offers quick, convenient, and clean travel before then.
Not surprisingly a cost-benefit analysis has shown that the direct
benefits of a high-speed rail system would be more than twice the
cost of construction.
Support for high-speed rail is growing all across California. A
bi-partisan coalition of approximately two-thirds of California’s
Congressional delegation has written to support implementation of a
budget adequate for the California High-Speed Rail Authority to
proceed with vital project design and related environmental studies
and land rights acquisition during the forthcoming 2007-2008 budget
cycle. Local elected officials from around the state have indicated
their own support as well.
We must continue to lay the foundation for high-speed rail in
California, even accelerating our efforts. There is no time like the
present to keep the planning for high-speed rail on track. As
football coaching great George Allen used to say, “the future is
now.”
DON KNABE
Supervisor, Fourth District
County of Los Angeles
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