High-Speed Rail
The Low Spark of High-Speed Rail
California’s bullet train has become a nearly forgotten source of trouble, eclipsed in the public eye by Covid-19, a gubernatorial recall, and out-migration from the Golden State. But it’s still out there, sucking up time and money, and as empty as it ever was. The California High Speed Rail, its …
Notes from Taxifornia
Last week, as millions of Californians filed their tax returns on the delayed July 15 tax deadline, there was good and bad news on the tax increase front in Taxifornia. Split Roll Tax Increase Campaign Based on Class Warfare I wrote last month that how the 2020-21 state budget deal, …
The Train That’s Still Going Nowhere
The Legislative Analyst’s Office recently issued its Review of the Draft 2020 High-Speed Rail Business Plan. It’s not a ringing endorsement of the project. Three of the report’s five key oversight issues confirm what’s been known all along. California’s bullet train is a troubled enterprise. First, says the LAO, “we …
Las Vegas High Speed Rail Project Shows Private Sector Can Get Job Done on High Speed Rail
As California’s bullet train continues to get hung up by cost projections gone wild, construction delays, postponed opening dates, and legal troubles, a high-speed rail line between Los Angeles and Las Vegas could be carrying passengers just four years from now. The difference? One is a government project, the other …
Long-Overdue Audit Will Hopefully Bring Sense to California’s Crazy Train
California’s “bullet train,” which has a deserved reputation for running late even before the first car has rolled along the tracks, is the most expensive public works project in state, and also in U.S. history, outside the federal interstate highway program. It should also be the most transparent public works …
The Little Train That Couldn’t: CA’s High Speed Rail
California’s high-speed rail project has fallen into a ditch due to yet another delay. Now would be a good time to put a bullet in this bullet-train scheme before even more billions of taxpayers’ dollars are wasted. The California High-Speed Rail Authority denies there’s a holdup. Maybe it’s just a …
Another Way California Wastes Taxpayer Dollars
California legislators never have enough time, and always lack the vision, to deal appropriately with the state’s pressing budget and infrastructure problems. But they are great at self-aggrandizement and at catering to the special-interest groups that assure their re-election. One would think, for instance, the Assembly Transportation Committee would be …
The Low Spark of High-Speed Rail
California’s bullet train has become a nearly forgotten source of trouble, eclipsed in the public eye by Covid-19, a gubernatorial recall, and out-migration from the Golden State. But it’s still out there, sucking up time and money, and as empty as it ever was. The California High Speed Rail, its …
Notes from Taxifornia
Last week, as millions of Californians filed their tax returns on the delayed July 15 tax deadline, there was good and bad news on the tax increase front in Taxifornia. Split Roll Tax Increase Campaign Based on Class Warfare I wrote last month that how the 2020-21 state budget deal, …
The Train That’s Still Going Nowhere
The Legislative Analyst’s Office recently issued its Review of the Draft 2020 High-Speed Rail Business Plan. It’s not a ringing endorsement of the project. Three of the report’s five key oversight issues confirm what’s been known all along. California’s bullet train is a troubled enterprise. First, says the LAO, “we …
Las Vegas High Speed Rail Project Shows Private Sector Can Get Job Done on High Speed Rail
As California’s bullet train continues to get hung up by cost projections gone wild, construction delays, postponed opening dates, and legal troubles, a high-speed rail line between Los Angeles and Las Vegas could be carrying passengers just four years from now. The difference? One is a government project, the other …
Long-Overdue Audit Will Hopefully Bring Sense to California’s Crazy Train
California’s “bullet train,” which has a deserved reputation for running late even before the first car has rolled along the tracks, is the most expensive public works project in state, and also in U.S. history, outside the federal interstate highway program. It should also be the most transparent public works …
The Little Train That Couldn’t: CA’s High Speed Rail
California’s high-speed rail project has fallen into a ditch due to yet another delay. Now would be a good time to put a bullet in this bullet-train scheme before even more billions of taxpayers’ dollars are wasted. The California High-Speed Rail Authority denies there’s a holdup. Maybe it’s just a …
Another Way California Wastes Taxpayer Dollars
California legislators never have enough time, and always lack the vision, to deal appropriately with the state’s pressing budget and infrastructure problems. But they are great at self-aggrandizement and at catering to the special-interest groups that assure their re-election. One would think, for instance, the Assembly Transportation Committee would be …
