The state's voters have soured on high-speed rail, according to the Field Poll.
A new survey released last week shows that two-thirds of registered voters want a second chance to vote on the project - and most would reject it now that cost projections have more than doubled.
The Field Poll found that support for a new election crossed party lines.
Voters approved Proposition 1A, a $9.95 billion bond issue to build a high-speed rail line between Anaheim and San Francisco, in November 2008 by a margin of 52.7 percent.
The cost, pegged at $45 billion before the election, soared to $98 billion in a business plan released Nov. 1. And the opening date slid by 13 years, from 2020 to 2033.
The new survey comes at a crucial time for the project. The California High-Speed Rail Authority has a $3.3 billion grant from the federal government. It needs an additional $2.7 billion in Proposition 1A money to build the first 130-mile segment between Bakersfield and Chowchilla - the so-called train to nowhere.
Construction must start by late 2012, or the federal government will yank the grant.
No high-speed trains will operate until the line is extended, either north to San Jose or south to the San Fernando Valley. As we've previously reported, the authority's financing plans after the first 130-mile segment are speculative. The authority is betting on tens of billions of dollars in federal aid, private investment and operating profits virtually as soon as it starts carrying passengers.
Gov. Jerry Brown is supporting the Proposition 1A appropriation for the Bakersfield-Chowchilla segment. Republicans in the Legislature are trying to block it and, as an alternative, put the train back on the ballot.
In a response to the Field Poll, the authority said: "High-speed rail will use more than $3 billion in federal aid to create 100,000 jobs and give California the transportation infrastructure it needs to compete in the 21st century. To back pedal on this project means we reject billions in stimulus funds, lose 100,000 new jobs and, ultimately, pay tens of billions more for congested highways in the long run. The uncertain economy may give some voters pause, but this kind of infrastructure investment and job creation is exactly what we need at this time and we will be making that case to Californians across the state who voted to start this project in 2008."
