Doug Farrow: Have cost projections been done on high-speed rail?

While everybody else is slapping each other on the back over high-speed rail, I have been wondering what the profile of a typical rider looks like. And how many stations will there be along the proposed route? Has there been any maps of the route published in The Bee showing time and distance between stops? To keep to a schedule, every car will have to stop at every station.

I’m sure it will create construction jobs, at “prevailing wage,” for years to come, and as wear-and-tear continues, the level of maintenance workers will rise. I also predict ridership levels will fall. If the riders will be mostly commuters, there must be rental car service at each station or family visitors and shopping trips, in which case the frequency of such visits will drop. Will ticket prices include pay down of the bonds?

There are more questions unanswered than answered. The Bee should publish an income and expense projection, by month and year and payoff year of the bonds. I think this is one more example of the national debt. Enjoyed in the near future but left to pay back by future generations.

This story was originally published January 8, 2015 at 5:57 PM with the headline "Doug Farrow: Have cost projections been done on high-speed rail?."