In this series, we’ve explained Metrolink’s imminent budget crisis and its struggles to deliver comprehensive service improvements or capital modernization, all stemming from its broken governance. The imminent fiscal crisis provides urgency for reform. Metrolink is a regional system that will someday be part of the backbone of the state Read more…
In previous posts in this series, we discussed Metrolink’s imminent budget crisis and its struggles to maintain and expand service and ridership. These are exacerbated by its inability to deliver capital improvements, from basic maintenance to ambitious modernization programs like electrification. Given the size and age of the network, there Read more…
In the last installment of this series, we learned about how political choices by specific counties are driving a $30M shortfall that threatens service cuts. These cuts are part of broader flaws in Metrolink governance that have stymied a more ambitious vision since its founding, and threaten to curtail Metrolink’s Read more…
Metrolink is in a dire situation in 2026. Dozens of trains across the system have been cut due to equipment issues stemming from deferred maintenance – and these cuts could become permanent thanks to a $30M operating budget deficit. Riders could see mid-day and evening trains permanently cut and no Read more…
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 Read more…
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 Read more…
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 Read more…
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 Read more…
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 Read more…
California High Speed Rail does have cost issues, but it’s not an impossible boondoggle, and slashing funding will not fix things. On Thursday, February 20th, Trump Department of Transportation head Sean Duffy visited Union Station in Los Angeles to announce he will be auditing California High Speed Rail. This audit Read more…