Infrastructure

CA to roll out pay-per-mile pilot program for drivers

As state drivers’ changing habits undermined roughly a hundred years of gasoline taxes, California officials debuted a controversial new pilot program designed to make up the difference. “The state of California is looking for 5,000 volunteers this summer for

Bullet train survives lawsuit, but faces new delays

James Poulos March 11, 2016

A California court may have given the state’s beleaguered high-speed rail project enough rope to hang itself. After surviving a major lawsuit, the bullet train will still be coming fully online years later than anticipated. “California’s high-speed train has just been

Carpooling and mass transit decline; number of solo commuters on the rise

Joel Fox March 5, 2016

If you drive to work alone then you are not, well — alone — in a manner of speaking. It seems that single use occupant vehicles have increased as a percentage of the commuter population while other more communal modes of

Did fear of political Waterloo spur bullet-train switch?

Chris Reed February 29, 2016

Earlier this month, in one of the biggest changes in the history of the state’s bullet-train project, California High-Speed Rail Authority officials announced they had changed their mind on where the first segment of the now-$64 billion project would be built. Instead

Bullet train plan counting on new federal funding

Chris Reed February 23, 2016

The draft business report released last week by the California High-Speed Rail Authority presumes that $2.9 billion more in additional federal funding will be provided in coming years to help pay for the approximately $20 billion cost of the initial

High costs plague embattled high-speed rail

James Poulos February 20, 2016

Despite a major shift in its construction strategy, newly anticipated budget overruns hit California’s beleaguered high-speed rail project, as citizens and lawmakers mounted fresh challenges to the scheme. “California High-Speed Rail Authority employees are warning of possible cost overruns on the

Falling gas revenue sharpens CA infrastructure fight

James Poulos January 31, 2016

As revenues from the statewide gasoline tax tanked amid low prices, lawmakers in Sacramento faced a fiercer debate over how to fund California’s much-needed infrastructure improvements. In the meanwhile, Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration went ahead with huge cuts to the

Bullet train shifts focus from SoCal to Bay Area

James Poulos January 29, 2016

California’s beleaguered high-speed rail project has hit a new snag, likely shifting its proposed construction strategy away from the Southland-first plan it had initially adopted. “The state rail authority is studying an alternative to build the first segment in the

Massive transportation bill has no $ for CA bullet train

Chris Reed December 8, 2015

California’s controversy-plagued bullet train project got a major boost from the Obama administration and Congress in 2009 when more than $3 billion in federal stimulus funding was sent to the state government to buttress the $9.9 billion in bond seed

CA’s nuclear power in doubt

James Poulos December 1, 2015

Despite calls for a resurgence in nuclear power, California could soon shutter its effort to keep the alternative energy going. PG&E’s Diablo Canyon plant, the state’s last, has wound up in the crosshairs. As the Associated Press reported, “the company