Archive for the ‘high-speed rail’ Category
Invest in rail infrastructure for jobs (and other benefits)
Jared Fallon’s December 2 article at statesurge.com, highlights some of the reasons Sen. John Kerry is calling for world-class high-speed rail for America (Bill S.3700):
- Prevent unproductive hours, wasted fuel and other economic impacts of traffic congestion
- Reduce greenhouse gasses
According to the bill’s proponents, the new office and rail system would also provide:
- More reliability than air travel
- National security: provides an alternative in an emergency (like a hurricane)
Fallon probably is making the connection, but I’ll make it here explicitly: We’re in a recession, probably another economic depression, and it’s public spending on infrastructure that’s going to help pull us out. Improved rail service will mean trains will need to be built, stations constructed, and right-of-ways improved.
I’m not sure how this new Office of High-speed Rail that Kerry is proposing would jive with the current Amtrak framework. Maybe Fallon has some idea about the viability of this proposal — I don’t. But Congress did passed the “Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008″ earlier this year and President Bush signed it into law. This act:
Provides Funding for High-Speed Rail Corridors. The bill authorizes $1.5 billion ($300 million per year) for grants to States and/or Amtrak to finance the construction and equipment for 11 authorized high-speed rail corridors. The Federal share of the grants is up to 80 percent. The Secretary of Transportation would award these grants on a competitive basis for projects based on economic performance, expected ridership, and other factors.
A provision in this Rail Safety Improvement Act “provides $1.9 billion (#380 million per year) for grants to States to pay for the capital costs of facilities and equipment necessary to provide new or improved intercity passenger rail.”
