July 2024 I Will Ride Update

ライダーの皆さん、こんにちは。
With summer in full blast, we are excited to share the latest high-speed rail news. The high-speed rail exhibit at the California State Fair surprised fairgoers with a life-size mockup train, 3D models of stations and beautiful photography of construction that wrapped around the exhibit hall. We also have the latest news on summer site visits with some of the state’s most passionate transportation students.

Reaching Students All Around California – A Summer to Remember

This summer, we reached students all over California. Read about the students we met in Los Angeles, San Jose and Fresno.

Los Angeles Metro Transportation Interns Welcome HSR Team

In the heart of Downtown Los Angeles, the Authority was happy to join the Transportation Career and Academy Program (TCAP) for the fourth consecutive summer! With a presentation from the Authority’s Southern California Regional Director and External Affairs Director, TCAP interns at LA Metro got the latest update on high-speed rail statewide with a close look at the Authority’s Southern California regional area. TCAP is a summer internship program for high-school students that are passionate about transforming the transportation system in their community. Every year, over 100 students are chosen for the program and placed with a Metro office for the summer where they get real job experience in the transportation agency. The students also complete a summer group project and are paid a stipend for their work.

Central Valley Welcomes Fresno State Engineering Summer Camp Students

The Fresno State Transportation Institute hosts an annual middle school camp from students in the surrounding counties. The camp offers a week-long deep dive into transportation careers and STEM education, featuring field trips and interactive learning experiences. The Authority welcomed middle school students from the city of Madera a on a tour of the San Joaquin River Viaduct. Guided on-site by high-speed rail professionals in engineering and communications, local Central Valley students got an inside look at one of the nation’s largest infrastructure projects.

Mineta Summer Transportation Institute Northern California HSR Alignment Tour

Earlier this month, the Authority took the 2024 cohort of the Mineta Summer Transportation Institute on a Northern California Alignment Tour via Caltrain. Students boarded Caltrain at Diridon Station in San Jose and rode up to 4th & King Station in San Francisco. Students then took Muni to Salesforce Transit Center, where they had the opportunity to meet staff from the Transbay Joint Powers Authority and tour the center. This tour included a special preview of the trainbox that already exists beneath Salesforce Transit Center. Once TJPA’s Portal project is complete, both high-peed rail and Caltrain will travel via tunnel from 4th & King to Salesforce Transit Center. While on Caltrain from San Jose to San Francisco, students were provided with information about key alignment features and modifications with Deutsche Bahn and HNTB.

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Wrapping Up 2024 California State Fair

The California State Fair was the largest outreach project the Authority has ever embarked on. Thank you to all that joined and followed along on social media. Welcoming thousands of visitors daily with a total of 50,000 visitors over the two weeks, the California high-speed rail team shared about the historic project to fairgoers and train enthusiasts! The high-speed rail exhibit, “The State of the Future”, featured a life-size train mockup with train seats, a kids’ play area, and a platform to help visitors get a glimpse into future California high-speed rail. The exhibit also featured 3D models of future stations, large-scale images of trains and stations, construction progress photos wrapped around the large exhibit, virtual reality and an area for kids to take a break and color some high-speed rail-related coloring pages. If you didn’t get a chance to stop by, you can take a look get a glimpse of the exhibit ここに YouTubeページで。

State Fair Exhibit

Women in Construction: Building the Nation

The Authority hosted t a Women in Construction panel at the California State Fair’s high-speed rail exhibit. For this discussion, we brought some of the women working on high-speed rail construction sites to talk about their career paths and inspire women to consider careers in construction. From ironworkers, carpenters, surveyors, executive leaders and more, these women shared with enthusiasm and pride about their work on the historic California High-Speed Rail project. This topic was important because women continue to make up a small percentage of workers in the construction industry and construction trades. In the year 2020, nationally, 10.9% of construction industry employees were women, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Census data shows this is consistent with women in the construction industry, specifically in California, with 9.3% of construction workers being female. This, however, is one part of the bigger picture. The Institute for Women’s Policy Research (https://iwpr.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Quick-Figure-construction-July-2023.pdf) found women’s representation significantly decreased in labor and extraction occupations. Women comprise only 4.5% of construction laborers, 3.1% of carpenters, 2.9% of electricians, and 4.7% of active apprentices, highlighting the tremendous opportunities for women in construction trades.

Federal Partnership Continued

With a continued federal partnership, the Authority has been granted continued authority in the environmental approval process for the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). What does this have to do with high-speed rail? Before building any infrastructure project, two environmental clearance processes must be completed in California: one state and the other federal. The state process is through the California Environmental Quality Act, and the federal is NEPA. (State – CEQA, Federal – NEPA). Though similar processes, they have various reviews and approvals. The “NEPA Assignment” allows the State to continue to stand in the shoes of the Federal Railroad Administration for certain duties under federal environmental law, thereby streamlining decision-making and providing for a more efficient environmental review process.

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Two Grade Separations Completed in the Central Valley

Earlier this month, the Authority announced the completion of two grade separations in Fresno County. The Mountain View Avenue and Floral Avenue grade crossings will take traffic over the future high-speed rail trains reducing emission and increasing safety.

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