California Voter Approval Significance The result of Proposition 1A passing did not mean that the High Speed Rail (HSR) project was ready for construction. What it did mean was that the California High Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) had a significant and necessary portion of the initial funding for the project in place and evidence that the residents of California were in support of such a project. The CHSRA was now in a position where they could try to turn this idea into a reality. History On November 4, 2008 California voters approved Proposition 1A, titled "The Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act," and by doing so gave the CHSRA $9.95 billion in initial funding for the HSR project. Currently, the HSR project is estimated to cost about $43 billion.

Upcoming Events May 24: City Council Rail Committee Meeting Jun 1: Peninsula Cities Consortium Meeting Keep Informed For continuous updates on HSR add us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter. For periodic HSR email updates join our Maillist and stay informed with what's next.

    
In total, 6,680,485 (or 52.7%) of voters voted "Yes" on Proposition 1A while 6,015,944 (or 47.3%) voted "No."  Thus, Proposition 1A passed by the relatively narrow margin, politically speaking, of 664,541 votes (or 5.4% of the total votes cast).



However, in Northern California voter support for the project was much higher.  In Santa Clara County, which is home to Palo Alto, 364,056 (or 60.4%) of voters voted "Yes" on Proposition 1A while only 239,071 (or 39.6%) of voters voted "No."