Another Boondoggle for California
18th May 2026
Fifteen years ago, the Onion reported that the Obama administration was replacing its high-speed rail plans with plans for high-speed buses operating on existing freeways at speeds of up to 165 mph. Instead of spending $17 billion on high-speed rail projects, the administration proposed to spend $46,000 on an equivalent high-speed bus network.
Now humor has become reality with the twist that California is considering building both high-speed rail and high-speed bus lanes. Under the proposal, the uncompleted high-speed rail line would be supplemented by 140-mph high-speed buses running on new lanes built in the median strips of existing freeways.