Blog

State Capacity for better projects: Coachella Valley Rail Case Study

A wide body of academic research suggests that bringing project delivery in-house results in more cost-effective transit capital projects. But how does this play out on a project-level? In this blog post we investigate how overreliance on consultants, coupled with lack of oversight,  is inflating costs and reducing scope and ambition to an alarming degree on Coachella Valley Rail. We find that: CV rail service planning and preliminary design costs 3-10x more than comparable, consultant-led Read more…

By calelectric, ago

ValTrain: Regional Rail for Sacramento

Why: The Greater Sacramento region needs fast, frequent and affordable ways to get around. For most people, driving on congested roads and freeways is the only viable way to travel. The state is spending millions to widen the Davis Causeway, which will do nothing to improve commutes. Existing transit options are too slow, infrequent and unreliable to compete with driving. Light rail expansions are expensive, not competitive with driving, and existing services are unavailable for Read more…

By calelectric, ago

2025 Year in Review

2025 has been a challenging year for many, dominated by the Trump administration’s attacks on civil rights, democracy, and the environment, from ICE kidnappings that suppressed transit ridership to the administration’s attacks on emissions regulations, transit funding, and renewable energy. But despite the difficult environment, Californians for Electric Rail has experienced a year of growth and success. We’ve seen a number of wins for electric rail this year: In January 2025, California released an excellent Read more…

By calelectric, ago

How the SB 125 Task Force can fix the SMART extension to Healdsburg

The SB 125 Transit Transformation Task Force (TTTF) is poised to adopt a final report on September 30, 2025. The State Legislature intended for the report from the TTTF to serve as the basis of legislative and administrative actions to reform transit to better achieve the state’s goals of reducing vehicle miles travelled and greenhouse gas emissions. There are many good recommendations in the draft final report around improving transit operations, fare products, coordination, cost Read more…

By calelectric, ago

Electrolink: Modern Passenger Rail Service for Southern California

New whitepaper outlines how to transform Southern California rail through electrification, level boarding, and through-running. Southern California is a megaregion, with jobs, homes, and destinations spread across an area as large as some countries. Population has grown fastest far from city centers, leading to worsening traffic and the US’s dirtiest air, due to continued reliance on cars. The 405 freeway in Orange County is one of the nation’s most congested, while 8% of Riverside county Read more…

By calelectric, ago

Why CARB is wrong about modal shift and truck vs. train emissions

Californians for Electric Rail has previously written about errors in the California Air Resources Board (CARB)’s public-facing materials and reports. Our latest whitepaper points out shortcomings in CARB’s 2020 Trucks vs Trains Analysis. CARB’s main “Trucks vs. Trains” figure edited to include data they calculated, but excluded from the report: non-tailpipe particulate and greenhouse gas emissions In 2020, CARB published a Trucks vs. Trains Analysis calculating the impacts of in-progress  truck regulations on relative emissions Read more…

By calelectric, ago

Caltrans’ Hydrogen Strategy Goes Down in Flames

Little more than hot air behind Caltrans’ justification for $207 million in unproven hydrogen trains Over the past few years California has demonstrated remarkable coordination across many areas of state government to develop the market for hydrogen, driven largely by ARCHES, California’s hydrogen hub, a public-private partnership run out of the Governor’s office and funded by Biden-era tax credits . In the rail sector, these actions include the now withdrawn In-Use Locomotive Rule, which counted fossil Read more…

By calelectric, ago

Against Patchwork Funding: How Multi-year Investment Frameworks Can Deliver Rail Faster and Cheaper

In order to meet the ambitious service and electrification goals in the State Rail Plan 2050, California will need to seriously re-think the shape and flow of design and capital investment. High-frequency intercity and regional rail service will require more resources but also more stable and predictable investment. To this end, Californians for Electric Rail has published the policy brief Against Patchwork Funding: How Multi-Year Investment Frameworks Can Deliver Rail Infrastructure Cheaper and Faster.  Against Read more…

By calelectric, ago

Californians for Electric Rail Responds to the Governor’s May Budget Revise and Cap and Trade Proposal

Californians for Electric Rail applauds Governor Newsom’s proposal to commit at least $1 B/year of Cap and Trade revenues to California High Speed Rail. Providing a consistent minimum amount of funding will lead to better construction schedules and unlock private financing that will allow the Authority to access more money sooner, cut costs, and get to LA and SF faster. However, in his May Budget, the Governor also proposes large cuts to the Transit and Read more…

By calelectric, ago

Response to errors in February 27, 2025 Guardian article on California High Speed Rail

Response to errors in February 27, 2025 Guardian article: “Trump and California don’t see eye to eye, but critique of high-speed train has many on board” by Andrew Gumbel Brian Yanity, Vice President-South, Rail Passenger Association of California and Nevada (RailPAC) Adriana Rizzo, Co-Founder, Californians for Electric Rail March 17, 2025 It is disappointing that a global news publication like the Guardian, which purports to be a progressive and trustworthy news source on the climate Read more…

By calelectric, ago