Politicians and project-sponsors often present infrastructure projects as promised growth, mobility, jobs, or cleaner energy. After the ribbon-cutting a harder question remains: who pays when something goes wrong? In infrastructure and project finance, advisors and lenders describe this as a technical question of “risk allocation.” And in politics, it surfaces as corruption scandals, fiscal crises […]
Tag: high speed rail
A High-speed Game of Catchup
In 1963, America stood unrivaled as the world’s leader in all things infrastructure. It was a nation of engineering marvels, with millions flocking to witness the products of publicly-funded infrastructure projects, such as the Golden Gate Bridge and the Hoover Dam. Six decades later, the year is 2025 and we’ve fallen seriously behind. What’s New? […]
CA’s High-Speed Rail Project and Its Future
California’s High-Speed Rail project seems to be in a state of perpetual limbo. Historically, progress on this project has been very slow, with local politics preventing its route from being efficient. Additionally, budget problems mean it won’t be finished anytime soon. To compound the problems the potential rail line already faces, because of the project’s […]
Avoiding Traffic at All Costs: Is The Bullet Train Worth It?
Imagine this — you arrive in Los Angeles from San Francisco in a mere three-hour train ride to hang out on the beach with your friends. No painful six-hour drive or delayed flights, but rather, a trip that gets you to your destination as painless and quick as possible. The thought of having a train […]
Remembering Moonbeam: The Legacy of Jerry Brown
In 1975, a strange and eccentric character ascended to the Capitol building in Sacramento. Nicknamed “Governor Moonbeam”, this young upstart of a politician was a new type of executive: he didn’t live in the Governor’s Mansion, he drove an economy-class car, and he walked to work. Yet Jerry Brown’s unorthodox habits […]
Barriers to Improving Our Crumbling Infrastructure
Amidst the political issues of gun control, immigration policy, and economic crises consistently dominating national headlines, the topic of fixing America’s broken infrastructure continues to be crowded out by the media’s agenda, ignoring an important problem that should be addressed more persistently. Unlike many other debatable issues, fixing our crumbling infrastructure should not be and […]
The Basics of Bad Bridges
Within the last few years, Americans have become increasingly aware of the failings of our national infrastructure. According to the 2013 report released by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), infrastructure in the United States has been given a grade of D+, meaning that the nation’s roads and bridges are in poor to fair […]