California voters turn against high speed rail boondoggle, 69% say they'd never or hardly ever ride it, lawsuits pile up

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"USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times survey (lat.ms/N9tTcm) published Saturday." Major environmental lawsuit filed Friday.

6/3/12, "Poll: Voters turn against California bullet train," AP. Houston Chronicle

"A new poll finds California voters are experiencing buyers' remorse over a proposed $68 billion bullet train project, as the number of lawsuits against the rail system grows.

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, according to the USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times survey (lat.ms/N9tTcm) published Saturday.

Since the $9 billion borrowing plan was passed, the projected cost of the bullet train between Los Angeles and San Francisco has roughly doubled, and it will now share track with slower commuter and freight trains in some areas, the Times said.

A majority of voters have turned against the ambitious undertaking just as Gov. Jerry Brown is pushing lawmakers to approve the start of construction in the Central Valley later this year....

The poll found that concerns about the project extend across regions, ethnic groups, income brackets and even political affiliations, according to the Times. 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. Seventy-six percent of Republicans would vote against it.

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. No respondents — zero percent — said they would use it more than once a week.

Just 33 percent of respondents said they would prefer a bullet train over an airplane or car on trips between LA and San Francisco

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." via Lucianne

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