California's High-Speed Rail Authority reimbursed consultants for premium Uber rides to gyms, a nightclub, a tiki bar, a cigar lounge and an escape room, according to an inspector general investigation that questioned nearly $600,000 in travel spending over a two-year period.

The findings, reported by Jalopnik and CalMatters, arrive with the project's estimated cost at $126 billion, up from the original $33 billion, and with the line's completion date long past the initial 2020 target. No tracks have been laid.

What did the investigation find?

The review documented reimbursed rideshare trips that included:

• Premium rides between a restaurant, a bar and a nightclub, taking place between 9:40 p.m. and 2:30 a.m.
• Repeated trips to Planet Fitness locations, despite a supervisor's written note that "the state does not cover ride share to gyms."
• $118,000 in reimbursed international travel, even though contract terms explicitly prohibited international trips.

The inspector general also found that at least $685,500 went to four consulting firms before the authority had approved their travel and expense requests. The firms included KPMG LLP and the AECOM-Fluor and SYSTRA/TYPSA joint ventures. None of the firms responded to CalMatters' requests for comment.

How sharp is the dispute?

The authority and the inspector general's office disagree over the basic standard of accountability. According to CalMatters, the authority insisted it did not need to justify each consultant's trip, prompting the inspector general to reply: "We explained to the Authority that this interpretation is fundamentally incorrect."

The disagreement now sits at the center of a broader question about how the state polices spending on a program whose budget has nearly quadrupled.

What happens next?

A bill to expand the inspector general's oversight of the authority is awaiting action from Governor Gavin Newsom, who must approve or veto it by September 30.

The inspector general's office has issued recommendations aimed at improving how the agency enforces its travel and expense policies, and it plans another evaluation of the authority's finances, suggesting this review is unlikely to be the final word on the program's spending practices.