Less than a month after consultants revealed $1 billion revenue projections for a high-speed rail line through Victorville, connecting Southern California regions and Las Vegas, the attention has already shifted to the reverse side of the ambitious project: its price tag.

One month after consultants revealed $1 billion revenue projections for a high-speed rail line through Victorville, connecting Southern California and Las Vegas, the attention has already shifted to the reverse side of the ambitious project: its price tag.

Neil Peterson, who authored the ridership and revenue study unveiled March 2, acknowledged then that the proposed rail's construction and annual operating costs were without studied estimates, calling that important task "our next job."

Peterson, a public transportation expert, later told the Daily Press that project consultants were informally seeking to gauge interest and cost estimates from potential investors.

"We're in the process now," he said, "of reaching out to the private sector in particular."

It includes entities that have been part of similar projects in the past in the construction, development, finance and investment sectors.

"There has to be a consortium assembled in the various types of companies that would have to be involved in order to put this thing together," he said.

With the project's momentum high amid projections of $1 billion in annual revenue by 2035 and ridership of 14 million by 2050, Peterson said ultimately "there's no cookie-cutter answer" to whom they'd look at for potential funding.

In recent years, financing has hit roadblocks: Developer XpressWest's $5.5 billion government loan was suspended indefinitely in July 2013 and a partnership with the Chinese government disbanded in June.

Only a single — but perhaps the most flashy — component of the High Desert Corridor that will connect the Victor and Antelope valleys, the rail element's projected significant revenue generation — by seizing an estimated 27 percent of the Southern California-to-Las-Vegas commuter market — hasn't been undersold, however.

"One of the things that sets this project apart from many, many others is the revenues are estimated to cover operational costs without a doubt," Peterson said. "There's no question that revenues will cover operational costs. The question here is, what will cover the capital costs?"

It's a question that consultants are working quickly to answer as Las Vegas-based XpressWest has aggressively set target on 2022 to make the Victorville-to-Las Vegas route operational with plans to extend to Palmdale a year later.

Additional planned station rollouts include Burbank in 2026 and Los Angeles and Anaheim in 2029.

An XpressWest official did not respond to a message seeking comment, but Peterson said the company's aggressive timeline is "absolutely" pushing his own efforts.

"One of the things we're asking, we're reaching out here, is that very question: How long would it take?" he said. "There's a direct relationship between time and costs."

The multi-modal corridor as a whole, including a proposed 63-mile freeway between Victorville and Palmdale, is a project backed by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) and Caltrans.

Metro officials have noted that funding for the corridor must come from a variety of sources — L.A. County's voter-approved half-cent sales tax is a partial option — not unlike any other massive public infrastructure initiative. Officials say they have explored sources at state and federal levels as well as Public-Private Partnerships (P3).

The latter has become, in a sense, the bingo word when speaking about the corridor and particularly the rail component. P3s are collaborations between public agencies and private partners, which act as financiers. Officials say these partnerships reduce risks to the public sector and can accelerate project completion without privatizing public resources.

California lawmakers who represent the High Desert in Sacramento have underscored that private funding for the regional connection is the attractive option.

Assemblyman Jay Obernolte, R-Hesperia, said that a public-private partnership for the rail component will provide jobs and buoy economic development in stakeholder communities without requiring taxpayers to foot the bill.

"My constituents should not be forced to subsidize this type of infrastructure development," he said. "That is why I have been a vehement opponent of California's High Speed Rail project. It will never be capable of operating without a taxpayer subsidy, which was one of the primary requirements of the program when the people of California approved it."

The district for state Sen. Scott Wilk, R-Santa Clarita, encompasses both the Victor and Antelope valleys, making his constituents uniquely and centrally affected by the corridor.

Eileen Ricker, a Wilk spokeswoman, called the rail component "a real good option" for P3s while offering two other possible scenarios.

"This is more of a dream. If we were able to eliminate (the governor's) high-speed rail, that money is an option," she said. Then: "(President Donald Trump) has said he's going to put ($1 trillion) into infrastructure. If he's serious about that, this is a great candidate."

In general, P3s can promote creativity and accountability, she concluded, and "just brings a whole different element to it, rather than being just a government project."

San Bernardino County 1st District Supervisor Robert Lovingood, who sits as the chairman on the corridor's Joint Powers Authority, acknowledged that such partnerships were the emphasis right now, adding it was too soon to pinpoint what one would ultimately look like.

"That's a very hard definition," he said. "It's going to end up being defined by who drives the partnership."

Shea Johnson can be reached at 760-955-5368 or SJohnson@VVDailyPress.com. Follow him on Twitter at @DP_Shea.