California Bullet Train Under Scrutiny

A rendering of a California bullet train (image courtesy of the California High-Speed Rail Authority)

The California Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO), which provides non-partisan fiscal and policy analysis to the California Legislature, issued its review of the state's new high-speed rail business plan this week.

Among the issues identified in the report are a “highly speculative” funding plan, the lack of federal funds for high-speed rail in the next year, overestimated costs for alternative transportation infrastructure projects, underestimated ridership projections, and potential problems with using funds already secured for construction of an initial segment, because that segment may not meet the legal requirements of the ballot measure.

You can read the LAO's report here.