California competing for high-speed rail funding

Published online on Friday, Oct. 02, 2009

SACRAMENTO -- The nationwide race is on for federal high-speed rail money, as state after state jumped on board Friday -- including California with a giant bid.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger submitted the state's $4.7 billion bid for stimulus dollars, including nearly $1.3 billion for Valley routes.

California's application seeks more than half of the $8 billion that Congress and President Barack Obama set aside for high-speed and intercity rail projects across the country.

But the competition is intense.

Federal officials would not confirm how many states had applied as of late Friday afternoon in advance of the 9 p.m. deadline. But bids were streaming in, according to news reports and statements from other states.

Florida, with the support of Walt Disney World, is seeking $2.5 billion, the Orlando Sentinel reported. Virginia wants $1.8 billion, including for a stop in Washington, D.C. Wisconsin and Ohio are asking for more than $500 million each. A Chicago-based rail also is expected to be a major competitor.

California officials touted their project as "the only true high-speed train," with top speeds of more than 200 mph. Most other proposals are for trains with much slower speeds. Virginia is shooting for 90 mph, for instance.

California also has a $9 billion voter-approved bond at its disposal -- yet officials still don't have a firm financing plan for the entire project, expected to cost more than $40 billion.

The rail is planned to eventually connect Sacramento and San Francisco to San Diego.

"It will revolutionize travel in California," the governor said at an event in Los Angeles announcing the bid. Rail officials also promoted the bid at an event in Fresno, attended by politicians and others.

The $4.7 billion bid -- which largely follows what the state's High Speed Rail Authority approved last week -- would pay for work to begin on four segments: Merced-Fresno, Fresno-Bakersfield, San Francisco-San Jose and Los Angeles-Anaheim. Stimulus rules require construction to start by September 2012 and finish in 2017.

The state chose not to prioritize the route segments, Schwarzenegger administration officials said. So if California gets less than its bid -- which is very possible -- officials will face politically tough and potentially polarizing choices about where to spend the money first.

The Los Angeles route has the advantage of so far drawing a lot more local financial support compared with the Valley. The Valley's selling point is that its rural stretches are the only place where the train can reach top speeds, rail officials say.

By applying solely for high-speed rail, the governor rejected proposals to seek money for conventional rail upgrades. Critics said that was a mistake.

"The governor's decision means that California would discard most projects that could actually go out to bid in the near-term, to benefit $4.5 billion of high-speed rail applications that have much longer timelines, and are unlikely to meet the 2012 deadline," the California Rail Foundation said in a statement.

The foundation, a nonprofit that seeks to promote "cost-effective" rail expansion, is a longtime critic of the High Speed Rail Authority.

California has pledged to match federal money with state and local dollars, including using a good chunk of the $9 billion in bond money voters approved in 2008 to jump-start construction.

The state still needs to find at least $26 billion to complete the entire project.

Officials are expected to seek private investments as part of their financing plan.