Transportation
California Drivers Are About to Give High-Speed Rail a Big Funding Boost
State cap-and-trade revenue, which now includes tailpipe credits, appear set to far outpace expectations.
The California high-speed rail project got a big funding cushion last summer when the state set aside 25 percent of cap-and-trade revenue for the $67.6 billion bullet train between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Now it turns out that cushion might be much bigger than expected.
The state's latest budget anticipates about $1 billion dollars in total cap-and-trade revenue for 2015-16, leading to about $1.7 billion over 2014-2016. But when the state's Legislative Analyst's Office crunched the cap-and-trade numbers late last month, they were much higher. As in roughly twice as high for the LAO's most conservative 2014-16 revenue scenario, and about $6 billion higher in the most ambitious outlook.