Posts Tagged: California High Speed Rail Authority

Plain language about managers at California’s high-speed rail system

By Marc Albert | May 10 2011 at 18:41 | Your take

More uncertainty is emerging about California’s planned $43 billion bullet train system, after a state report recommended a serious shakeup in the management and spending on the joint federal and state project.

As Dan Weikel of the Los Angeles Times reports, California’s non-partisan Legislative Analyst’s Office released a 28-page report raising serious doubts about both the decisions being made and the decision-makers themselves. The report urges that management of the entire project be stripped from its appointed board — the California High Speed Rail Authority — and turned over to the state Department of Transportation, more commonly known as Caltrans. (more…)

Topics: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Beltway Outsider, Dept. of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration, Infrastructure and Mass Transit
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High speed rail funding leaves one coast for the other

By Marc Albert | Mar 31 2011 at 23:04 | Your take

A major windfall in federal funding offered to Florida for a new high speed rail effort, just might end up in America’s other sand-and-sun tourist destination — California.

Arguing that local matching funds and future operating and maintenance costs would be an albatross around Floridians’ necks, Florida’s Republican leadership recently rejected the $2.43 billion Washington offered for that state’s long planned fast train project. Now, according to Rich Connell of the Los Angeles Times, the race is on to get that money and California is hoping for a healthy slice, if not the whole pie. (more…)

Topics: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Beltway Outsider, Clean Air, Departmentalized – Federal Agencies, Dept. of Transportation, Environment, Featured Articles, Federal Railroad Administration, Global Warming, Infrastructure and Mass Transit
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Sunshine State congressman not sure Golden State can use high-speed rail

By Marc Albert | Nov 05 2010 at 10:37 | Your take

Construction of California’s planned bullet train system, linking Los Angeles with San Francisco, will begin next year in the wide open fields of the state’s Central Valley, reports Rich Connell of the Los Angeles Times. That is, unless the new Republican majority moves swiftly enough to derail the entire project, which may actually be a possibility — according to a report by Teresa Garcia of KGO-TV. (more…)

Topics: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Beltway Outsider, Departmentalized – Federal Agencies, Dept. of Transportation, Environment, Federal Railroad Administration, Federal Transit Administration, Government in My Backyard (GIMBY), Infrastructure and Mass Transit, Issues & Ideas
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Dodging a bullet? Rider projections overshot for high speed rail in California

By Marc Albert | Jul 02 2010 at 11:28 | Your take

Opponents of the nation’s most ambitious high speed rail plan received powerful new ammunition yesterday when an officially sanctioned review of ridership projections found them to be significantly flawed. (more…)

Topics: Beltway Outsider
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California high speed rail: an uphill battle

By Marc Albert | May 19 2010 at 17:55 | Your take

Officials hoping to link California’s biggest cities with the nation’s first bullet train system are hoping for a bit more federal help.

The California High Speed Rail Authority is applying for $16.6 million, nearly a third of the $50 million worth of planning and construction grants available this year from the Federal Railroad Administration according to a news release.

There’s no question that the money will be spent. (more…)

Topics: Beltway Outsider, Government in My Backyard (GIMBY)
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