DOGE Sets Its Sights on High-Speed Rail
Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy have begun identifying specific government programs that their Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) would target in the next presidential administration, including California’s high-speed rail project.
In 2008, California voters approved a plan to connect Los Angeles and San Francisco via electrified high-speed rail by 2030. Since then, the project’s timeline has been repeatedly extended and its budget increased. As with other large infrastructure projects contingent on federal funding, California high-speed rail has been delayed by cronyism, political horse trading, and regulatory inefficiencies (parts of Southern California still haven’t completed the necessary environmental reviews to lay track).Â
What was originally expected to cost $33 billion, 75 percent of which would be paid for by the federal government or private funders, has ballooned to over $106 billion, according to the California High-Speed Rail Peer Review Group, an independent evaluator. In March, the then-CEO of the California High-Speed Rail Authority told lawmakers that the project would need roughly $100 billion more to be completed.Â
The project is funded primarily by federal grants and California’s cap-and-trade program. Since 2009, it has received nearly $6.8 billion from the federal government. Revenue from the state’s cap-and-trade program has generated $6.4 billion for the project, as of November 2023.Â
Despite 16 years and billions of dollars, high-speed rail in the Golden State has yet to transport a single passenger. With population declines in the state after the pandemic, expected ridership has fallen from 41 million people (2009 projection) to 28.4 million people (2024 projection). Nevertheless, funding for the project continues. The Rail Authority is currently constructing a 119-mile segment of track in the Central Valley, which it hopes to extend to 171 miles and complete between 2030 and 2033. The full 494-mile system was originally expected to be operational by then.
Any spending cuts proposed by DOGE would need congressional approval to be implemented, but there seems to be support in both chambers for ending federal funding for Cal
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