Top officials from the California High-Speed Rail Authority will join some of the rail project's toughest critics in Palo Alto Tuesday afternoon for a public discussion of the controversial, voter-approved rail line.
The public hearing, chaired by Assemblyman Rich Gordon, D-Menlo Park, will focus on the rail authority's newly released business plan, which estimates the cost of the system at $98.6 billion. Gordon chairs a state Assembly budget subcommittee that oversees resources and transportation agencies.
The meeting, which was set to begin at 1:30 p.m. at Palo Alto City Hall, will feature a panel that includes Roloef van Ark, the chief executive officer of the rail authority, and two recently appointed members of the rail authority's board of directors, Jim Hartnett and Michael Rossi. They will be joined by various supporters of the rail project, including Daniel Krause, executive director of the high-speed-rail advocacy group Californians for High Speed Rail; and Jim Wunderman, president of the Bay Area Council. Cesar Diaz, legislative director of the State Buildings and Construction Trades, will also join the panel.
The panel will also include leading critics of the high-speed rail's ridership models and revenue projections. Elizabeth Alexis, co-founder of the Palo Alto-based watchdog group Californians Advocating Responsible Rail Design, and Samer Madanat, director of the UC Berkeley Institute for Transportation Studies -- both of whom have pointed out flaws in the rail authority's ridership methodology -- will take part in the discussion. William Gridley, whose group Community Coalition on High Speed Rail has reviewed and criticized the rail authority's business model, will also be on the panel, as will Farra Bracht, an analyst at the Legislative Analyst's Office.
William Kempton, chair of the rail authority's peer-review group, will also be on the panel.
The meeting will take place from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall, 250 Hamilton Ave. It will be broadcast by the Midpeninsula Community Media Center on Channel 26 and streamed online here.
Comments
Registered user
North Whisman
on Nov 15, 2011 at 2:17 pm
Registered user
on Nov 15, 2011 at 2:17 pm
I kind of wish I received this notification a bit earlier than 45 minutes after the meeting started.
Jackson Park
on Nov 15, 2011 at 4:30 pm
on Nov 15, 2011 at 4:30 pm
"Uploaded: Tuesday, November 15, 2011, 1:00 PM"
"The meeting, which was set to begin at 1:30 p.m."
I'm sure that you read things the minute they're posted so you had 30 minutes. Plenty of time! ;-)
Registered user
North Whisman
on Nov 15, 2011 at 5:44 pm
Registered user
on Nov 15, 2011 at 5:44 pm
Yes, I noticed that too, @Greg. :) If HSR existed, maybe I could have used it to get to the meeting on time :P
So I watched the webcast. Wow! I had no idea how deeply this project is disliked down in Bakersfield, for the way in which it cuts through their town ("wholesale destruction of the city"). The public comments seemed to fall into three buckets: union representatives who unsurprisingly like the idea of more construction jobs, people who like high speed rail but are strongly opposed to the bait-and-switch that has occurred regarding the cost estimates for this project, and people who think the existing business plan is a terrible plan because of one or another reason.
I highly doubt this train will get built.
Cuernavaca
on Nov 16, 2011 at 9:38 am
on Nov 16, 2011 at 9:38 am
Even the "used to be very vocal" proponents of the curent HSR plan have stopped arguing for its continuation on these msg boards. Its a waste; an absolute boondoggle.
The opponents have been screaming it for quite some time. Now it seems people are finally understanding.