City of Visalia
Agenda Item Transmittal
Meeting Date: 1/6/2020
Agenda Item Number (Assigned by City Clerk): 14.
Agenda Item Wording: Consider a request from the San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission to send a letter to the California High Speed Rail Authority supporting the pursuit of a Merced- Fresno-Bakersfield interim operating segment including the Tulare-Kings stop.
Deadline for Action: 1/6/2020
Submitting Department: Administration
Cont act Name and Phone Number:
Leslie Caviglia, 559-713-4317
Department Recommendation: It is recommended that the Visalia City Council consider a request to send a letter to the California High Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) supporting the pursuit of an interim operating segment including the Tulare-Kings stop in order to leverage the Valley’s connectivity to other improving rail services while work on the larger project continues.
Summary: Dan Leavitt, Manager of Regional Initiatives for the San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission, has requested that the Visalia City Council join over 35 other organizations and elected officials in sending a letter of support to the CHSRA who will be meeting January 14, 2020 to consider the interim operating segment. In the draft letter provided by Mr. Leavitt, he provides the following list of benefits that could be realized if the 171-mile line interim operating segment improvements from Merced to Bakersfield aligned with the State Rail Plan north of Merced to Sacramento, to the bay area, and bus connections south of Bakersfield to Southern California:
• Provide much faster, more frequent and more reliab le passenger rail service than is currently available in this corridor;
• Reduce travel times for rail passengers between Sa cramento and the Bay Area to Bakersfield by up to 90 to 100 minutes;
• Enhance connectivity and accessibility to other pa ssenger rail services; • Provide the highest ridership and revenue potentia l of any Central Valley option; • Improve air quality in the Central Valley by shift ing from diesel to clean, electrically powered trains;
• Provide an overall infrastructure configuration o ffering significant benefits to both passenger and freight movement; and
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Item 14. - Page 1
• Allow for early testing of high-speed operations a nd passenger use and reduces ramp- up time for future extensions.
Mr. Leavitt also offered that there an effort from the Southern California area to take the $5 billion in funding for this project away from the San Joaquin Valley.
While there has been skepticism about whether the current high speed rail will be fully realized in California, there has also been discussion that the rail line already in progress could be utilized to improve rail service in the San Joaquin Valley, and therefore could still provide benefit to this area, especially if the Tulare/Kings stop is included. Probably the greatest disadvantage would be to have the improvements realized without that stop, which would literally bypass this two county area.
Fiscal Impact: N/A
Prior Council Action: Over the past several years, the City Council has advocated for a Tulare/Kings stop on the High Speed Rail route.
Other: N/A
Committee/Commission Review and Action:
N/A
Alternatives:
1. To not send a letter.
Attachments:
1. Draft Letter
2. List of supporters
Recommended Motion (and Alternative Motions if expected):
I move to authorize a letter to be sent to the High Speed Rail Authority supporting the pursuit of the Merced-Bakersfield interim high speed rail operating segment.
Copies of this report have been provided to:
Environmental Assessment Status
CEQA Review: N/A
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December __, 2019
Lenny Mendonca, Chair
California High-Speed Rail Authority
770 L Street, Suite 620
Sacramento CA 95814
RE: Support for Merced-Fresno-Bakersfield Interim Operating Segment
Dear Honorable Chair Mendonca,
_________________________________________________ strongly supports the Governor’s Plan and CHSRA’s policy recommendations (2019 Project Update Report released May 1) to pursue a Merced- Fresno-Bakersfield interim operating segment with stops at Kings/Tulare and Madera to provide high- speed rail service to Californians at the earliest possible time. The Merced-Fresno-Bakersfield interim operating segment will leverage the maximum degree of connectivity to other improving rail services, while important project development work also continues in other parts of the state.
The 171-mile line Interim Operating Segment extending north to Merced and south to Bakersfield coordinated with improvements aligned with the State Rail Plan north of Merced to Sacramento and to the Bay Area and bus connections south of Bakersfield to Southern California create significant benefits including:
• Provides much faster, more frequent and more reliable passenger rail service than is currently available in this corridor;
• Reduces travel times for rail passengers between Sacramento and the Bay Area to Bakersfield by up to 90 to 100 minutes;
• Enhances connectivity and accessibility to other passenger rail services; • Provides the highest ridership and revenue potential of any Central Valley option; • Improves air quality in the Central Valley by shifting from diesel to clean, electrically powered trains;
• Provides an overall infrastructure configuration offering significant benefits to both passenger and freight movement; and
• Allows for early testing of high-speed operations and passenger use and reduces ramp-up time for future extensions.
Rail passengers in California will greatly benefit from slashing 90 to 100 minutes off train travel between Southern California and the Sacramento and Bay Area regions in the north. Direct connections in Merced to ACE and the San Joaquins will also translate into faster connections to the Capitols, Caltrain, BART, SacRT, Valley Link and VTA systems, which will also experience higher ridership. The success of this early interim service is essential towards implementing the ultimate high-speed rail system between the Bay Area, Sacramento, San Joaquin Valley and Southern California. _________________________________ is very pleased to submit this letter of support for the Merced- Fresno-Bakersfield Interim Operating Segment.
Sincerely,
cc Brian Kelly, CEO; Brian Annis, CFO; Chad Edison, CalSTA -175-
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Merced – Bakersfield Interim Operating Segment – Letters of Support (December 20, 2019)
Senator Galgiani
Assemblymemeber Gray
Assemblymember Arambula
Central Valley Rail Working Group
Sacramento Regional Rail Working Group
San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority
San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission
San Joaquin Valley Rail Committee
California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley
San Joaquin Valley Regional Planning Agencies’ Directors’ Committee Fresno COG
Madera CTC
Merced CAG
StanCOG
San Joaquin COG
Stanislaus County Public Works
Madera County
City of Fresno
City of Modesto
City of Merced
City of Riverbank
City of Selma
City of Sacramento
Modesto Council Members Madrigal & Zoslocki
Modesto Chamber of Commerce
Merced County Board of Supervisors
Merced City School District
Merced County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Merced Downtown Neighborhood Association
Merced Boosters
UC Merced
Fresno EDC
Congressman Harder
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Congresswoman Matsui
Valley Vision
Community Foundation of San Joaquin
Sacramento Regional Transit District (Sac RT)
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