Inflation and delays could add billions more to bullet train project costs

Inflation and delays could add billions more to bullet train project costs
"The California bullet train project has cost state taxpayers an average $3.1 million a day over the last year — a construction spending rate higher than that for the Bay Bridge, Boston’s Big Dig or any U.S. transportation project in recent history
But still it’s not enough, planners say.
In order to hit its 2033 deadline and $77-billion budget, the California High Speed Rail Authority will have to increase daily spending by up to nine times over the next four years or risk putting the already-delayed system further behind.
...But outside infrastructure experts question whether the $27-million-a-day outlay necessary under the plan would even be possible.
“That burn rate is ludicrous,” said civil engineer James Moore, director of USC’s transportation engineering program. 
“It is so far outside standard experience that it doesn’t make sense to assume it will occur.”...
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