Nine years after California voters approved the high-speed "Bullet Train," the project still isn't close to completion.
For starters, the original price tag for the project was a hefty $64 billion.
As challenges multiply, more and more lawmakers and taxpayer advocates are saying the money would be better spent on freeway improvements.
"It's so easy to get in an airplane and fly anywhere you want to, [to] any of the big cities around the state,” said San Diego City Councilman Mark Kersey. “This is really, I think, a solution in search of a problem. And it's a very expensive solution at that. And it's not at all clear that Californians are going to utilize it."
The Bullet Train looks great in animation, touting a trip from Los Angeles to San Francisco in three hours, but it has been plagued with delays, and the state auditor hasn't done a report on the project in five years.
During that time, the project's finances, ridership estimates and management issues have come into serious question.
While construction is finally underway on some tracks in the Central Valley, environmental impact studies on eight other sections have been bumped back from this year to 2020.
Local
The target completion date for the project is 2029, and critics say the plug should be pulled.
"It's hard to think of a worse investment, one that provides lower return,” said Richard Rider, chairman of San Diego Tax Fighters. “If we poured money into the Pacific Ocean, at least then we wouldn't have to pay for it again every year. And that's a big difference. The high-speed rail program is unnecessary."
In response to all this, a spokeswoman for the High-Speed Rail Authority issued a statement saying that the agency is advancing its program “on all fronts.” She said recruitment is in progress for several key management positions, including the chief executive officer.
