On Tuesday, the California High-Speed Rail Authority announced that the cost of the project has tripled to nearly $99 billion, and federal funds for it don't exist yet--prompting some legislators' support to fizzle.
Mike Rosenberg and Steven Harmon elaborate on other figures, either previously overestimated (ridership) and underestimated (fares)--and what other financing schemes the state may look to next:
"The rail authority hopes the federal government will launch a new tax-credit bond program and create grants that would initially provide $30 billion for the project, matched with $11 billion in existing state and federal funds, to build a stretch of track long enough to start service. Those tracks would stretch from the Central Valley to either San Jose or San Fernando Valley, with train service beginning in 2022.
From that point on, the state hopes to make a profit, which officials project will spark $11 billion in private investments, an additional $35 billion in federal grants and $10 billion from various sources such as local governments and private companies."
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