Alto's real astronomical cost - at least $115 billion !
If Alto costs $115 billion to build, that means that every taxpaying family has to pay $11,500 out of their pockets.
Alto claims that the construction cost of the high speed rail project will be about $80 billion.
However, knowledgeable people say that the final cost of Alto will be much more than that.
Studies show that the cost of all major infrastructure projects, everywhere in the world, end up costing 44% to to 78% more than the first estimate.
If we use the lower 44% figure, Alto will end up costing at least $115 billion. This works out to more than $11 thousand for each taxpaying family of four people.
Often transportation projects cost dramatically more than the first estimate.
For example, for the Trans Mountain Pipeline in Canada, the initial estimate was $5.4 billion in 2013. It ballooned to $34 billion by 2024. This was an overrun of 530% over the initial estimate.
One journalist recently estimated the Alto project would cost $600 billion. "Toronto recently opened a light-rail line that cost $684 million per kilometre. At that rate, Toronto to Quebec City would cost roughly $600 billion . . . and high-speed rail is wildly more expensive to build than light rail."
The only true high-speed rail project in the U.S., in California, was initially priced at $25 billion (1999). It is now expected to cost five times that amount -- $128 billion, or a little over $200 million per mile. This was 5 times the original estimate. The rail line would link Los Angeles and San Francisco.
We're not just saying this -- look at the solid documentation below!