Summary: GAO reviewed the status of high-speed rail projects in the United States, focusing on plans for a high-speed rail link between Miami, Orlando, and Tampa. GAO found that because the Florida project is in the early stages of development, it faces uncertainties. It will be more than two years until enough information is available to comprehensively assess the project's cost, financing, ridership, and schedule. For example, the rail system's estimated cost--now pegged at between $6 billion and $8 billion--is uncertain because the project is only at a five-percent level of engineering design. At the same time, the ridership forecast relies on optimistic assumptions and could be overstated by 30 percent or more. To help pay for the Florida project's capital costs, the project's sponsors will seek a $2 billion federal loan from the Department of Transportation. Recipients of such funding must repay the assistance, in whole or part, from a dedicated revenue stream, such as tolls. Providing the Florida project with a $2 billion loan would constrain the Department's ability to fund other projects that are potential candidates for credit assistance. At least 11 other corridors in the Untied States are in various stages of developing high-speed rail projects. Unlike the Florida project, most of the other corridors have not determined their funding sources. Most of the corridors are in the early planning stages, but officials in Amtrak's Northeast corridor--between Washington, D.C., and Boston--have been upgrading their system for years, and officials in the Pacific Northwest corridor--between Vancouver, British Columbia, and Eugene, Oregon--have bought high-speed trains and plan to upgrade their tracks. Ten of the 11 corridor projects have preliminary cost estimates ranging from $315 million to $4 billion. In contrast, the California corridor project, which would use either very-high-speed or magnetic levitation technology, could cost as much as $29 billion.
