Rail backers now downplaying mandate
“Supporters of California’s plan to build a high-speed rail line that had promised to take riders from Los Angeles to San Francisco in less than three hours have long championed the voter-backed initiative (Proposition 1A) that authorized its initial construction as a reflection of the public’s desire to build such a system.
But court rulings continue to delay the project because the plan voters approved in 2008 in many ways differ from the one the California High-Speed Rail authority is implementing. For instance, the court found that its financial plan was not in keeping with the terms of the initiative. Other details — lengthening travel times and higher operating subsidies — are headed for yet another court battle.
Meanwhile, a major poll last year has shown a majority of California voters now opposed to the project — and stronger majorities that favor subjecting the rail system to another public vote. Now rail supporters have shifted their argument. They say that the project is so important that the public’s view is not what really matters.”
Greenhut, Steven. UT San Diego 28 April 2014.