If you are wondering why the budget for California’s high-speed rail keeps increasing, it’s because the state needs to pay for very important things, such as escape room visits and nightclub outings for project consultants.
The inspector general for the high-speed rail project has found that the California High-Speed Rail Authority has violated state contract requirements to the tune of around $600,000 in disallowed spending on four consultant firms. That includes, according to Ashley Zavala, spending on “premium rideshare trips to a gym, night clubs, an escape room, a cigar lounge in Washington, D.C., and a sushi restaurant in Denver.” The Authority also spent $118,000 in international travel costs, despite it being explicitly barred by the contract the Authority has with that consultant group.
