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High Speed Rail offers the potential for fast, comfortable intercity travel in California with less air pollution and energy use and better planning and land use. But it must be carefully planned.
Consequently, PCL Foundation has led the assembly of a comprehensive assessment of the High Speed Rail Project's Environmental Impact Report (EIR) by ten California environmental and alternative transportation groups. This assessment urged the state to study building the rail system and locating stations along existing highways and transportation corridors, rather than through virgin wilderness or on farmland where it would induce sprawl. We urged rail service that would maximize ridership and attract the most possible people out of cars. We also demanded that wildlife crossings and other wildlife and habitat sensitive building practices be included in any future High Speed Rail System. While the State has not yet issued a final EIR esponding to thousands of public comments, the State has agreed to spend the next year or more studying the alignment that PCL Foundation found would avoid destroying Henry Coe State Park, and to consider smart growth suggestions in the EIR.
To make a contribution to PCL Foundation's work on high speed rail system development, click here.
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