The California High Speed Rail Authority has started construction in the Central Valley. How is it going? Our own analysis says it is 3 years late and at least 20% over the original budget. The Authority tells everyone that everything is coming in under bid. At first glance, this seems right. The contract bids are […]
Archive | Business Plan
CARRD’s Updated cost estimates and oversight concerns
By Nadia Naik on January 27, 2016 in Business Plan, CARRD, CHSRA, Funding, Legislative Analysis, Parsons Brinckerhoff
Today we submitted comments for the Assembly Budget Subcommittee meeting focusing on High Speed Rail Oversight. Our main points of concern: In this case, construction bids and construction estimates are not (and have never been) apples-to-apples comparison. There is no public document that incorporates, tracks and forecasts all relevant costs for the ICS project, relative […]
California state legislature oversight hearings for high speed rail project
There are four committees in the California state legislature with explicit oversight responsibilities for the California High Speed Rail Authority. In the Assembly (California’s equivalent of the House of Representatives): 1 Budget Subcommittee 3 on Resources and Transportation – currently chaired by Richard Bloom (D-50) California has a fiscal year that ends on June 30th. The governor’s […]
CARRD calls on Legislators to beef up reporting requirements
By Nadia Naik on November 9, 2015 in Board Meeting, Business Plan, CHSRA, Funding, Statewide, Uncategorized
You may have heard Authority Chairman Dan Richard and CEO Jeff Morales in the media lately talking about transparency. We sent legislators new information about how the Authority is so concerned about the public perception of the project that it is willing to compromise the state’s ability to oversee the many consultants working to design the rail line. […]
Land purchases for initial construction way behind schedule
By CARRD on February 10, 2014 in Board Meeting, Business Plan, CHSRA, Fresno, Fresno – Bakersfield, Merced – Fresno, Statewide, Uncategorized
The contract signed with the design- build construction team led by Tutor Perini in August had a detailed list of properties that the CHSRA would have to buy and the date each parcel would be available to the contractor. The most recent report on January 16th notes that there are significant delays.How far behind is […]
The blended system can deliver 2 hour 40 minute travel times: Fact or fantasy?
We asked the question in April and we will ask it again. Can the blended system make the promised 2 hour 40 minute travel time? The most significant change in the Authority’s revised Business Plan was the adoption of a “blended” system. The good news was that it could be less impactful to communities and […]
Substantive changes in Business Plan warrant recirculation for comment
By Nadia Naik on February 1, 2012 in Board Meeting, Business Plan, CHSRA, Environmental Review, Fresno, Funding, Legislative Analysis, Uncategorized
There have been at least two recent media reports describing substantive changes to the upcoming 2012 Business Plan. We look forward to seeing how public input was incorporated to the plan. Given the media reports on apparent substantive changes, CARRD is recommending that the Authority consider issuing a second draft plan to give both the […]
State Auditor issues report and NY Times: Room for Debate Op/Eds
By Nadia Naik on January 27, 2012 in Business Plan, CHSRA, Environmental Review, FAQ, Funding, Legislative Analysis, Statewide
By now, you have likely heard that the State Auditor has issued its latest report on the California High Speed Rail Authority. The full report is available at: http://www.bsa.ca.gov/pdfs/reports/2011-504.pdf We recommend reading the long version (always!) as it provides much greater insight into the problems resulting from too many consultants and not enough staff that CARRD […]
More changes on High Speed Rail board
In December, there were two new appointees to the California High Speed Rail Authority Board to replace Richard Katz and Rod Diridon (read our article) . Spring is bringing with it two additional new appointees. As reported in the press, Quentin Kopp left the board and was replaced by Robert Balgenorth, president of the California […]
California High Speed Rail Peer Review Committee Releases Critical Report
Peer Review Report November 2010 The High-Speed Rail Authority’s independent Peer Review Group released this extensive report detailing issues that confront the HSRA. Highlights of the report are covered by Dan Walters, New study sharply criticizes high-speed rail project, and John Cox, Peer report calls for ‘thorough reassessment’ of high-speed rail project, who outlines the […]