In 2008, California voters approved what was supposed to be a $33 billion high-speed rail project to connect Los Angeles, Sacramento, and San Francisco. What they are actually getting is a project that may still never connect those cities but will cost at least $113 billion and won’t be completed until at least 2030.
In the meantime, California’s legislature is as determined as ever to make affordable transportation illegal, going so far as to ban gasoline-powered automobiles.
The high-speed rail project is a predictable rat’s nest of rent-seeking by politically connected contractors. Assuming it is actually ever finished, it will require constant operating subsidies and maintenance costs. This California crazy train was back in the news last week because it received one of many environmental green lights required for its completion, which will come no sooner than 2033. However, be prepared for disappointment — this project has consistently blown through every cost estimate and time projection that has been applied to it so far.
As goes California goes Justin
