Coalition: Survey shows support for California high-speed rail

As the Trump administration moves to revoke $4 billion in federal funding from California's high-speed rail project, a new poll finds that 62% of registered voters in the state — and 80% of Democrats — support continuing to build the project, according to the U.S. High Speed Rail coalition. 

The voter survey by the Politico-Citrin Center-Possibility Lab at University of California-Berkeley found that one-third of Democratic voters said they continue to back high-speed rail even though it will mean using more state resources to make up for federal funding cuts. Thirty-eight percent of Democrats said their support depends on the project meeting its current budget, U.S. High Speed Rail officials said in a press release.

Among age groups, the poll showed that 79% of Gen Zers, 72% of millennials, 56% of Gen Xers, and 48% of baby boomers want to continue the project, they said.

The results are in line with earlier polling conducted before the Trump administration announced it was cutting the $4 billion in federal funding. Trump has long criticized the program as a waste of taxpayer money. California is suing to preserve the funding.

“Despite delays and relentless attacks, California voters continue to support a world-class electric high-speed train that will reduce congestion, improve air quality, create thousands of good-paying jobs, and revitalize communities across the state,” said Ray LaHood, former U.S. transportation secretary and co-chair of U.S. High Speed Rail.

The poll was conducted by TrueDot.ai. platform between July 28 and Aug. 12. Verasight selected 1,445 registered voters at random, with interviews conducted in English and Spanish. The modeled error estimate for the full sample is plus or minus 2.6%.

U.S. High Speed Rail is an alliance that convenes designers, builders, suppliers, project owners and labor organizations to advocate for high-speed rail across the nation.