MERCED, Calif. — A new report highlights what Merced residents think of plans to build a high-speed rail station in their city — and top of mind is community input.
The survey was conducted by the Community and Labor Center at UC Merced in 2024. The report is part of a series that examines community perspectives on the emergence of new energy and carbon investments in the Central Valley.
Caroline Farrell, the economic development coordinator at the center, said Merced residents were most concerned about quality jobs, affordable housing and community input around California's High-Speed Rail project.
“Residents would like to see economic development around the rail stations in terms of retail stores, restaurants, and affordable housing, and people are willing to attend public meetings about that to ensure that there is a lot of accessibility of local jobs, that the quality of jobs is good and the safety of jobs created is protective of workers,” Farrell said.
Ninety percent of those surveyed said they’d like more of a push for job creation.
The report revealed almost half of residents surveyed showed concerns around the high speed rail project with rising rent or housing costs, funding and environmental impact.
Residents saw the potential environmental benefits of the project, including not increasing greenhouse gas emissions or traffic congestion, as being very important. The report also revealed most residents weren’t fully aware of the plans for the rail station in the city.
Still, survey participants said they would be more likely to use the rail if provided a subsidized rate for being a local resident. Respondents said if they did ride the bullet train, it would be to visit family or friends.
Farrell said this report is meant for the high speed rail team, to tailor their outreach efforts. She also thinks it would be helpful to local governments and community organizations.
“There are people that know about the project and are interested in engaging, and there are people who do not know the project who should be engaged,” she said.
Community investment as plans change
The study was released just as a new business plan gained unanimous approval from the California High Speed Rail Authority’s board. The plan suggested the Merced rail station be moved four miles outside of the city’s downtown to an alternative site near East Mission Avenue and Highway 99.
Farrell said this proposal, which wasn’t even on the table when the center began its survey in 2024, makes it harder to perceive whether the rail project will still align with the community’s goals.
“With the downtown Merced Station, there was a sense that some of these issues around affordable housing, retail stores, restaurants might be more suited to the downtown station than one that was further away from the city center,” she said. “It's unclear how that station lines up with what the communities had identified, but I think that is exactly why additional community outreach is needed.”
But these issues, she said, are common topics in the Valley that were relevant long before the project was envisioned. Farrell said the rail should be looked at as a solution for those identified concerns in whatever way possible.
“[It’s] an opportunity to invest in some of those issues that have been highlighted, and maybe raise the bar in terms of future projects,” she said. “How these types of infrastructure land use projects are looked at as a way of addressing some of these issues, rather than kind of bypassing them or overlooking them.”
