California’s high-speed rail boondoggle

OPINION:

High-speed rail, with rare exceptions, is a boondoggle. Years ago, as governor of Wisconsin, I was right to kill the proposed line between Milwaukee and Madison. The massive cost overruns, project delays and incompetence with the proposed line in California further prove that my logic was correct.

Voters in California were asked to approve a referendum in 2008 to provide $33 billion for phase 1 of the “high-speed” rail line. According to a new report for the Committee to Unleash Prosperity, plans for the original Los Angeles to San Francisco line began in 1996 and were estimated to cost $20 billion by 1999. Phase 1 of the project has a projected funding gap of $100 billion today.

Construction has begun on the project’s first segment between Bakersfield and Merced in California. This segment will not open until 2033. Overall, phase 1 of the project is so delayed that they do not have a completion date. It is time to kill this boondoggle of the taxpayers’ money.

When Jim Doyle was governor of Wisconsin in 2010, the Obama administration announced $810 million in federal stimulus funding for a proposed “high-speed” rail line between Milwaukee and Madison. I vowed to kill the train because we believed the price tag would grow dramatically over time and state taxpayers would be on the hook for the added costs. Based on the massive failure in California, we were correct.

In addition, I thought it was a boondoggle as forms of mass transit rarely work unless they save the user time and/or money. Typically, this is why commuter rail is only somewhat viable in places like the Northeast, where traffic congestion and high parking prices make it more attractive to users.

In contrast, I noted that commuting from my home near the West Side of Milwaukee to the Wisconsin Capitol in Madison would take longer overall and cost more than a typical drive in a vehicle. It is a significant waste of tax dollars, federal funds or not, for a system few would use in the corridor.

During my successful campaign, I ran an ad saying, “I am drawing a line in the sand, Mr. President: No matter how much money you and Governor Doyle try to spend before the end of the year, I will put a stop to this boondoggle the day I take office.”

In an open letter to President Obama, I said, “If your administration is truly interested in helping Wisconsin build the transportation infrastructure it needs and desires, you should allow us to use this money for roads and bridges instead.” They did not take my offer to make a real difference for people in my home state.

Instead, I fulfilled that pledge before being sworn in. A few weeks after my election, Mr. Obama’s transportation secretary sent nearly all the $810 million to states wanting train projects. I was keeping my campaign promises before taking office.

A University of Wisconsin-Madison student recently asked me why I killed the “high-speed” rail line between Milwaukee and Madison. He was likely not even in kindergarten when I first pushed to end the project. By the way he phrased the question, it sounded like his views were shaped by a liberal professor, as his comments were filled with inaccurate information.

My response was simple: The boondoggle in California shows that I was right. Years behind schedule, failure to complete work and billions in added costs are all problems that would have likely plagued a “high-speed” rail line between Milwaukee and Madison. In addition, the service was not practical, as the potential customer base would not save time or money on the proposed route.

We were right to protect state taxpayers from the high price of these cost overruns and delays. We were also right to protect federal taxpayers from pouring billions into projects doomed to failure. In many ways, we were doing good work for the Department of Government Efficiency long before Elon Musk.

It is high time we stopped the broken mindset of spending taxpayers’ money just because it was available to the bureaucrats. This is a frame of mind that leads to massive budget deficits and national debt, as well as inefficient government programs. The recent report on the failures in California is another powerful reminder that I was right to kill the proposed “high-speed” rail line. Doing the same on the West Coast before they waste more federal funds would be wise.

• Scott Walker is president of Young America’s Foundation. He served as the 45th governor of Wisconsin.