California drops lawsuit seeking to reinstate federal funding for the state's bullet train

[GJGCA]

Associated Press:

California this week dropped a lawsuit officials filed against the Trump administration over the federal government's withdrawing of $4 billion for the state's long-delayed high-speed rail project.

The U.S. Transportation Department slashed funds for the bullet train aimed at connecting San Francisco to Los Angeles in July. The Trump administration has said the California High-Speed Rail Authority had " no viable plan " to complete a large segment of the project in the farm-rich Central Valley.

The authority quickly filed a lawsuit, with Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom calling the federal government's decision "a political stunt to punish California."

The authority said this week that it would focus on other funding sources to complete the project, which is estimated to cost more than $100 billion.


https://abc7.com/amp/post/california-drops-lawsuit-seeking-reinstate-federal-funding-states-bullet-train/18324034/

[MichMan]

1. Concerned with discovery or didn't think they had a winnable case?

"Moving forward without the Trump administration's involvement allows the Authority to pursue proven global best practices used successfully by modern high-speed rail systems around the world," a spokesperson said in a statement.

[Igel]

2. Maybe there were strings attached that they didn't want to abide by.

One complaint about the lack of EV chargers or rural Internet was all the requirements placed on who the contractors could be--without much regard for location or the ability of locals to actually meet those requirements.