High Speed Rail May Have Hidden Costs

"In November 2008, voters will be asked to consider a $9.95 billion bond to pay for a 700-mile high-speed rail system that would run from San Diego to Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay Area. But wait. The bonds would cover only about one-quarter of the estimated $40 billion total cost. Officials have yet to identify where the other $30 billion will come from."

"If the high-speed rail system is anything like other major infrastructure projects, we can expect actual costs to be two or three times the estimated costs and ridership to be half that of the projections. Boston's "Big Dig" project and Los Angeles County's Blue Line light rail from downtown L.A. to Long Beach both ended up costing three times more than promised. Will taxpayers be fooled again with low cost estimates and inflated promised benefits?"

"A high-speed rail system might be a cool thing to have, but is it really wise? The state's fiscal condition is steadily deteriorating. According to State Treasurer Bill Lockyer, California currently has more than $135 billion of general debt authorized, including over $42 billion in bonds approved by voters just last year. Now we are being asked for $10 billion more, which is merely a down payment on the tens of billions the high-speed train system will actually cost."