California High Speed Rail, as far as Congressman Josh Harder is concerned, is the proverbial poster boy for what not to do when it comes to a major government infrastructure project.

It is:

*way overdue given the promise was made to have trains up and running between San Francisco and Los Angeles by 2020. Now the target is sometime around 2040.

*seriously overbudget given voters were told in 2008 if they approved a $9.9 billion bond measure that it would cost just under $40 billion to build it between SF and LA. The latest estimated has it at $125 billion and growing.

*addressing the wrong transit need given SF to LA daily travel is minuscule compared to the hundreds of thousands that commute from the Inland Empire to the Los Angeles Basin and Northern San Joaquin Valley to the Bay Area clogging freeways and severely impacting air quality.

*still lacking a solid financial plan to build the entire system despite having spent $15 billion to date and lacks the funding to complete the initial 119-mile segment from Merced to Bakersfield.

Even though it is a state project, Harder said the high speed rail represents what is wrong with major federal government infrastructure.

It is why he is part of an effort to advance a Build America Caucus.

The bipartisan effort is undertaking a series of roundtable sessions to make policy decisions for must-pass infrastructure legislation in the 119th Congress.

Harder said Republicans have made it a high priority to reduce the cost of needed infrastructure projects while Democrats want to make sure needed infrastructure is built.

The Tracy Democrat contends both goals are compatible if Congress can adopt the right policies for the bureaucracy to advance federal infrastructure endeavors not just in a timelier and less expensive fashion, but also to make sure the right infrastructure is built.

“I don’t know of anyone who wants a better way to travel between Bakersfield and Merced,” Harder said referencing the first 119-mile segment that is now supposed to be operational by the mid-2030s.

Harder, who has never supported the high speed rail concept pursued by Sacramento, believes a better use of  transit dollars is to devise more robust commuter rail between the job-rich coastal cities and inland California that is continuing to be the de facto affordable housing solutions for workers employed in the Los Angeles Basin and the Bay Area.

At the minimum, he believes the high speed rail project needs to be rethought.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com