U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood: High-Speed Rail Will be Our Generation's Legacy

[marmar]

via MassTransitMag:



U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood: High-Speed Rail Will be Our Generation's Legacy

By Ray LaHood | Guest columnist
Transportation Department Documents and Publications


WASHINGTON, DC - It is difficult to imagine what America would be like without its interstate highway system. For decades, our state-of-the-art roadways have been the world's envy - and rightfully so. They deliver products of agriculture and industry to market. They link people with schools, jobs, family, and health care.

America's highways will remain a crucial component of our national transportation network well into the future. But we can no longer rely exclusively on roads as a strategy for economic growth over the long term. That is why the Obama administration has begun the heavy lifting of building a national high-speed-rail system that will spur economic development and job creation along its corridors.

For years, we have watched other countries pass us by as they build faster trains. Indeed, the benefits of high-speed rail are tough to ignore. It will seamlessly integrate large metropolitan communities and economies through a safe, convenient and reliable transportation alternative. It will ease congestion on our roads and at our airports. It will reduce our reliance on oil as well as our carbon emissions. And it will provide a much-needed boost to America's hard-hit manufacturing sector during a time of economic struggle.

Since the president proposed his vision for high-speed rail last year, enthusiasm around the country has been overwhelming. To date, states have submitted applications for $64 billion -- more than six times the amount of money available. .........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.masstransitmag.com/online/article.jsp?siteSection=3&id=13257

[Vogon_Glory]

1. Oh, We Wish!

Oh, we WISH high-speed rail would be this generation's legacy to a future America. Unfortunately after this last election and the resurgence of the Republican Party and its TEA Party Siamese twin, I'm frankly doubtful that we'll get much in the way of high-speed rail, especially in places where high-speed rail would make good economic sense.

I have come to believe that high-speed rail may well have hit a fatal road-block--the short-sightedness, greed, and gullibility of America's baby boomers. Thanks to the reactionaries who came out in droves (And NO thanks to the careless and inattentive non-voters who stayed home in this last election), high speed rail is as likely as not going to get anywhere thanks to right-wing reactionaries who see high-speed rail as "socialistic" and taxpayer-subsidized airports and highways as being the way things ought to be.

If it wasn't for California's hesitant steps towards building a high-speed passenger rail system, I'd have predicted that the first high speed rail rail system built on this continent would be either in Canada or Mexico. It may well be the LAST effort to build a high-speed rail system in the US for a decade or more.