Take the California High Speed Rail system, for example. After more than a decade of delays, the project is low on funds, and construction is currently limited to a 119-mile (190km) segment in the Central Valley. The goal of the project is eventually to connect San Francisco to Los Angeles. "The [funding] offer from the federal government for highways is much more generous than for rail," says Elkind, adding that California has mostly had to finance the project on its own with bond money and funds from its carbon trading program.