

A new public opinion poll shows that most Californians still favor the state’s bullet-train project, but a majority of likely voters oppose constructing the $98.5-billion high-speed rail system.

The survey, which was released this week by the Public Policy Institute of California, found that 53% of likely voters are against the project, 43% favor it, and 4% are undecided.

Among all adults in California, the poll found that 51% support the bullet train, 45% are against it and 4% don’t know. Across the regions, the Public Policy Institute found that a majority of adults in the San Francisco Bay Area (57%) and Los Angeles (54%) favor the high-speed rail project.

In the Central Valley, where construction is scheduled to begin later this year, adults were divided with 50% in favor and 47% opposed. In parts of Southern California outside of Los Angeles, 52% of adults opposed the train, while 42% were in favor of it.

The poll is another indication of declining support for the high-speed rail project among the state's likely voters. In the November 2008 election, voters approved a ballot proposition, 53% to 47%, that authorized almost $10 billion in rail bonds to help pay for the project.

But a recent Field Poll found that two-thirds of likely voters want another chance to vote and 59% would reject the project because of the price tag.

The results are similar to those of a public opinion survey done earlier this year by Probolsky Research of Newport Beach, which found that 62.4% of likely voters would reject the project if given a second opportunity to vote on it.

The high-speed rail opinion results are part of the institute’s broader statewide policy survey. Pollsters interviewed 2,001 Californians of which 859 were likely voters. The sampling error is plus or minus 3.4% for all adults and plus or minus 4.2% for likely voters.

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-- Dan Weikel

Image: Rendering of proposed California high-speed train. Credit: California High Speed Rail Authority