From the Fresno Bee:
Earlier this year, researchers at the University of California's Institute for Transportation Studies criticized how Cambridge Systematics - an Oakland-based transportation research and management company - developed the rail authority's ridership and income projections. UC Berkeley professor Samer Madanat and UC Irvine professor David Brownstone said Cambridge Systematics made incorrect assumptions and cooked the numbers to inflate ridership figures to meet preconceived expectations.... By doing so, Madanat and Brownstone said, the firm came up with faulty ridership estimates that, among other things, influenced the rail authority's preference for a route through Pacheco Pass, west of Los Banos, to connect the Bay Area with the Valley instead of a more northerly Altamont corridor.

For the full story, please visit http://www.fresnobee.com/2010/11/22/2168971/some-doubt-ridership-estimat....