Speakers, including Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin and several representatives of the high speed rail, presented the benefits of the proposed high speed rail to students at an event hosted by the “I Will Ride” club in the Old Administration Building on April 27. More than 200 students attended the event.

Nick Kennedy, president of the “I Will Ride” club, said the purpose of the event was “to educate students and the community about the benefits of high speed rail.”

Students like Ashley Del Rio, a dance major in her second year, said she had been trying to learn more about the project for some time.

“I had heard about [high speed rail] for a while and was open-minded,” Del Rio said. “I wanted to hear what other people said about it.”

The intention of the “I Will Ride” club was to do just that for students.

“By bringing these speakers here [to FCC],” Kennedy said, “we can bring the right information into the hands of the people.”

Through a lot of coordinating and emailing, the club was able to arrange for all four volunteer speakers to present their cases before students.

Mayor Swearengin who is in her final term of office,  addressed students about getting involved and getting to the forefront of the project.

“This is a long-term project,” Swearengin says. “This is the group that is going to come of age when the first operating segment is going to be available.”

The first operating segment will connect Fresno to San Jose and is expected to be completed by 2025, but federal grants are still being sought after to fund the projected $20.6 billion cost, according to an April 28 article by Juliet Williams of the Associated Press.

Proposition 1A, passed in 2008, allocated just over $9 billion for the project.

“The people involved in high speed rail know that we are building this for the next generation,” says Swearengin. “Getting students involved as quickly as possible in this process really helps [students] take ownership and understand that they are going to be ones to take it to maturity.”

Students reacted positively to Swearengin’s message.

“Ashley Swearengin was inspirational and engaging,” says Del Rio. “Taking it step by step to make something happen really stood out. We can be optimistic and get somewhere instead of always being skeptical.”  

Craig Scharton, owner of Peeve’s Public House in downtown Fresno, addressed similar themes.

“We live in a community that can be very cynical,” says Scharton. “When you’re surrounded by it, the positive voices don’t get heard over the negative ones.”

Kennedy said that many students do not know how they feel about the project, while opponents to high speed rail claim that there is no support.

“We feel that if enough people knew about the project, they would support it,” he said. “The benefits are just too great.”