CA high-speed rail is vital to Central Valley’s future | The Sacramento Bee
The Sacramento Bee’s editorial board, which opposed the 2008 ballot measure that authorized high-speed rail, long since has come to see the life-changing potential of a transportation system that connects the San Joaquin Valley to Silicon Valley. It’s not too complicated to see the short and long-term reasons why.
San Mateo County’s unemployment rate is 2.5 percent. In Santa Clara County, the rate is 3.1 percent. Statewide, 4.8 percent of the workforce is out of a job. In too much of the other California that straddles Highway 99, times remain tough. Stanislaus County’s unemployment rate is 7.9 percent. Madera’s rate is 8.5 percent. Fresno County’s rate sits at 8.8 percent. Merced County’s rate is 10.2 percent. This is both unfair and unsustainable. The Central Valley needs to become part of the rest of the state.
IN TIME, $6 BILLION WILL HAVE BEEN SPENT IN AND AROUND FRESNO. ASK EXPERTS WHEN THE LAST TIME WAS THAT SUCH A SUM WAS SPENT ON A PUBLIC WORKS PROJECT IN FRESNO, AND THEY WILL LAUGH. NEVER.
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