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Just two days after the California High Speed Rail Authority announced a public hearing schedule for the proposed statewide high-speed rail system, officials have extended the comment period and added two more hearings.

The public now will have until Aug. 31 to comment on the 700-mile system’s Draft Program Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report; the previous deadline was May 14.

The 2,500-page report describes potential environmental impacts of three transportation system alternatives, and compares how well they would meet California’s current and future transportation needs. A high-speed system could carry up to 68 million passengers by 2020, and would increase mobility, help relieve highway congestion, help protect the environment and create jobs for less than half the cost of building more highway lanes and airport runways, according to the report.