I kind of wish I received this notification a bit earlier than 45 minutes after the meeting started.

"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! ;-)

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.

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.