Comments are due by January 16th. Please submit comments today and share the petition on social media. Comments should be sent to fresno_bakersfield@hsr.ca.gov and stephanie.perez@dot.gov Sample comments below for your convenience (feel free to copy, paste, edit, and send): Sample: To Whom It May Concern: I am writing to provide formal comments in response to the Fresno to Bakersfield Locally Generated Alignment draft EIR/EIS. With respect to the draft EIR/EIS, my position can be summarized as follows: I support the May 2014 Project (known as the hybrid alignment) with a station at Truxtun Avenue and oppose the Locally Generated Alignment with a station at F Street. If the Locally Generated Alignment is ultimately selected, I would like the station location at a location other than F Street and Golden State Avenue (preferably in Old Town Kern in the vicinity of Sumner Street between Beale and Baker). 1) First, I am concerned about the lack of an intermodal rail connection with the existing San Joaquin Amtrak. Recognized as a high-speed rail best practice, California is actively building and expanding intermodal rail stations in San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles, and Anaheim that will serve as critical transfer points and offer feeder rail services for the high-speed rail system. It is critical that the multimodal rail connection linking the Hybrid alignment and high-speed rail station with the Bakersfield Amtrak be preserved. We know from all international best practices that there is a synergistic network effect when combine rail systems into a common intermodal station and that the ridership and economic activity generated from these intermodal connections are greater than the sum of their individual parts. I also support the Hybrid alignment and the Truxtun Station because it is located within walking distance of the downtown area including multiple hotels, the convention center, Rabobank Arena, many government office buildings, a federal courthouse, the Maya Theater complex, Bakersfield’s Ice Center, and McMurtrey Aquatic Center. The Mill Creek Linear Park, an active transportation facility linking to the Truxtun Station site further enhances its walk- and bike -ability. It is clear that the Truxtun Station site offers the best opportunity for transit oriented development and to serve as a catalyst for economic development for the Bakersfield metropolitan region. 2) Second, I am concerned about the significant distance and lack of walkability between the F Street Station and downtown destinations. An F Street Station is very far from Bakersfield's downtown core. Unlike the Truxtun Station which prioritizes active and public transportation modes, the F Street Station site by location and design prioritizes auto mobility with a park-and-ride setup that is surrounded by parking, overpasses, interchanges, and taxi/Transportation Network Company loading zones. In light of #1 and #2, the impacts of vehicular and motorized traffic connecting between an F Street Station and Amtrak, the Convention Center, and Rabobank Arena have not been (and must be) studied. The F Street Station placement not only results in a distant, less convenient, auto-oriented station location, it is also not walkable to large regional downtown convention and sporting facilities. Traffic between F Street and Rabobank Arena, the Convention Center, and Amtrak will add traffic congestion downtown and air emissions in the San Joaquin Valley. 3) Third, I am concerned about the adverse impacts the locally generated alignment will have on Old Town Kern with an elevated viaduct over Sumner Street. Old Town Kern represents a critical historic yet struggling low-income community that will forever be changed if an elevated viaduct bisects this vestige of Kern County history. The Hybrid alignment was far less destructive passing to the South of this neighborhood rather than through it. With that being said, if LGA is selected as the final alignment, I would strongly urge the CHSRA and FRA to place the Bakersfield Station in Old Town Kern and not at F Street. Placing the station between Baker and Beale streets in Old Town would mitigate the adverse impacts of the elevated viaduct bisecting this neighborhood and allow for an intermodal rail connection where the BNSF railroad tracks converge with the LGA alignment. This would allow for a second Amtrak connect at an Old Town Kern high-speed rail station allowing a cross platform transfer. This would be similar to the Amtrak's Capitol Corridor which has two stations, one at Jack London Square and a second station at the Oakland Colosseum/Airport. Thank you for considering these comments.