From the LA Times:

The state panel charged with building California's 800-mile bullet train network pushed back Thursday against an academic analysis challenging the reliability of ridership and revenue estimates underpinning the massive project.... One of the authors of the critical review acknowledged that the agency's patronage projections followed standards widely used in the transportation industry. He suggested that was part of the problem, that many such studies aren't reliable. "It's caused, I think, a lot of problems when it turns out later on the actual ridership is way off from the forecasts," said UC Irvine professor David Brownstone. "This is a problem with almost all existing work." He called on the board to "go beyond standard practice ... and do it right," particularly given the project's massive public investment. Among other things, Brownstone and his colleagues challenged traveler sampling procedures used in the projections and criticized the failure to include a potential error range in the estimates. Neumann said the sampling was proper and he firmly stands behind the projections "without reservation."

For the full story, please visit http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-high-speed-rail-20100708,0,21730....

Also ran in:

• Voice of OC