Dear friends and neighbors, The F-St station proposal goes against almost every major conclusion of "Making the Most of High-Speed Rail in California," a research study applying lessons from France and Germany's successes and failures with HSR. http://www.gmfus.org/publications/making-most-high-speed-rail-california Below are 7 of 10 key learnings from the study (on pg 3). Clearly, our city government failed to internalize these lessons when they proposed and designed the F-St station. Central city stations maximize the economic development and mobility benefits of HSR HSR stations have inherent urban design advantages over other types of transportation facilities (The F St design is architecturally lacking while the Truxtun stop is a beautiful structure) HSR stations should celebrate their non-transportation functions (F St station has no space for amenities to make it a community hub) High-density employment and commercial uses are best for HSR station districts (Westchester is a single-family neighborhood, while downtown has lots of development potential and is already zoned for high-density residential/commercial buildings) Access to HSR stations via space-efficient modes of transportation should be prioritized (bikes can only access the station via the Kern River bike-path and the station is not designed to incentivize people to walk to and from the train) Within HSR stations, first-rate intermodal physical connections between HSR and non-auto access modes are essential (Truxtun station is already set up to be accessible by bus while the F St station does not make sufficient accommodation for transportation other than individual vehicles) It should be easy to pay to use sustainable and space-efficient local access modes to HSR stations (how can Bakersfield allow for bike sharing or car sharing when the F-St station isn't designed to allow it?) Please take action to support the downtown station location. The HSR open comment period on the F-St proposal is open until January 16th. Our petition needs as many signatures as you can muster. Don't forget to email Fresno_Bakersfield@hsr.ca.gov to voice your concerns. There's no limit on how many different comments you can send them. Spread the word to your friends and family and get them involved. Thanks for your help, Citizens for a better Bakersfield and Kern County