California High-Speed Rail: 'Liberal Pipe Dream?'

Some local politicians have said they do not support a

Republican candidate Phil Paule, who is running for the 67th State Assembly District, giving the heads up that the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform had regarding the appropriate use of federal funds and allegations concerning possible conflicts of interest and mismanagement on the project.

Now a new poll finds California voters may share these Fifty-five percent of voters want to see the high-speed rail bond issue that was approved in 2008 back on the ballot, and 59 percent say they would now vote against it if it were to come back, according to a USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times survey published Saturday.

The poll found that concerns about the project extend across regions, ethnic groups, income brackets and political affiliations, the Los Angeles Times reported. Among Democrats, initially the strongest supporters of the plan, only 43 percent would support the bond in a new vote, while 47 percent would oppose it; 76 percent of Republicans would vote against it, the Times reported.

In Southern California, 67 percent of voters said they would reject issuing high-speed rail bonds if they could vote again.

If the bullet train system is built, 69 percent said they would never or hardly ever ride it; zero respondents said they would use it more than once a week. Just 33 percent said they would prefer a bullet train over other modes of transportation.

Reasons for disapproval are varied. The projected cost of the bullet train that would connect Northern and Southern California has roughly doubled since the bond issue was passed; additionally, it is now expected that the train would share tracks with slower commuter and freight trains in some areas, the Times reported.

Gov. Jerry Brown is pushing lawmakers to approve the project’s start in the Central Valley later this year, and now lawsuits are being filed.

On Friday, Central Valley farm groups filed a major environmental lawsuit in Sacramento County Superior Court, asking for a preliminary injunction to block rail construction, the Associated Press reported. The suit is one of several already on the books, and still more agricultural interests in the Central Valley are threatening to sue, according to the report.

The USC Dornsife/Times survey heard from 1,002 registered voters in mid-May. It was conducted by Democratic polling firm Greenberg Quinlan Rosner and Republican polling firm American Viewpoint. The sample has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.