Construction on California’s high-speed rail system is supposed to get underway in 2012, but a couple of new reports are throwing some monkey wrenches into the works. The Legislative Analysts Office just released a report on the project questioning the plan to start laying track in the central valley instead of in a more populace area. They also slam the California High-Speed Rail Authority as being too weak to handle the growing project. Another report from an independent peer review panel of transportation experts says the authority is understaffed and their planning is inadequate. The CHSRA says the criticism is constructive. But they’re moving forward, noting that President Barack Obama and Governor Jerry Brown have shown their strong support for the project by allocating millions of dollars to it. So, is high-speed rail in California a boondoggle or the most viable plan out there? And will legislative wrangling hamstring the project?
Guests:
Jeff Barker, Deputy Executive Director of the California High-Speed Rail Authority
Daniel Krause, Executive Director, Californians For High Speed Rail, a grassroots, statewide coalition of high speed rail supporters advocating for the high speed rail project approved by California voters in November 2008
Rick Geddes, Transportation expert; Associate Professor in the Department of Policy Analysis and Management at Cornell University; Adjunct Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI); Author of The Road to Renewal: Private Investment in U.S. Transportation Infrastructure