Published
4 years agoon
As Rep. Jim Costa prepares for the 116th Congress, he remains bullish on the future of high-speed rail in California.
The Fresno Democrat has always supported the bullet train and publicly taken on its critics. The estimated $77 billion dollar project is in the midst of construction in and around the Central Valley — and controversy up and down the state.
The work continues despite delays, cost overruns, and a blistering audit blasting the state’s management of the project.
Among other findings, the state auditor’s report released last month said the project faces billions in shortfalls, slower speeds than promised, and poor management of contracts.
“There were some good points on the audit, but I think some of the work didn’t take into account the necessary detail in communicating with the High-Speed Rail staff as it related to contracting,” Costa said.
The audit also warned that HSR could miss federal deadlines, costing additional billions. Costa called that a Catch-22.
“When other states did not take advantage of their high-speed rail funding, California got $3.6 billion out of the $8 billion,” Costa said. “But, there were timelines at the federal level to use those funds. The (HSR) authority acted very promptly to take advantage of those timelines to get the additional funding at the federal level.”
Costa believes the authority will properly address the auditor’s concerns.
David Taub has spent most of his career in journalism behind the scenes working as a TV assignment editor and radio producer. For more than a decade, he has worked in the Fresno market with such stops at KSEE-24, KMJ and Power Talk 96.7. Taub also worked the production and support side of some of TV sports biggest events including the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals and NASCAR to name a few. Taub graduated from the University of Michigan with dual degrees in communications and political science. You can contact David at 559-492-4037 or at Send an Email
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