Washington lawmakers receive your message on high-speed rail
October 20, 2009By Stephen Lee Davis
Four billion or about one billion for high-speed rail.
That’s the question that a group of representatives in the House and Senate will soon have to answer as they try to reconcile differences in the two chambers’ versions of the yearly transportation appropriations bill. A few weeks ago, the House passed a transportation budget with $4 billion for high-speed rail. Shortly afterward, the Senate passed their version of the yearly spending bill with only $1.2 billion for high-speed rail.
So a group of organizations, including Transportation for America, started rallying support for more funding for high-speed rail. Did you or your organization sign the petition at FourBillion.com urging Congress to keep the $4 billion in the bill?
A few members of the FourBillion.com campaign took that petition with more than 100 organizations and thousands of names to a few Congressional offices last week and hand-delivered the message that now is the time to make a historic investment in rail and kickstart a national investment in fast, clean rail travel that can connect our metro areas.
John Krieger from US PIRG and Danny Plaugher, executive director of Virginians for High Speed Rail visited with Rep. Tom Perriello (VA), Rep. John Olver (MA), Rep. Eric Cantor (VA), and Rep. Debbie Halvorson (IL) to deliver the signatures. The full set of photos are here on our Flickr stream.
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| FourBillion.com 6 Originally uploaded by Transportation for America |
| House Minority Whip Rep. Eric Cantor (VA), right, meets with John Krieger, left, and Danny Plaugher of Virginians for High Speed Rail as they deliver petition signatures from FourBillion.com to Rep. Cantor supporting the $4 billion for high-speed rail in the House DOT appropriations bill. Photos courtesy of FourBillion.com and US PIRG. |
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| FourBillion.com 2 Originally uploaded by Transportation for America |
| Rep. John Olver (MA), right, with John Krieger of US PIRG, left, and Danny Plaugher of Virginians for High Speed Rail as they deliver petition signatures to Rep. Olver from FourBillion.com supporting the $4 billion for high-speed rail in the House DOT appropriations bill. Photos courtesy of FourBillion.com and US PIRG. |
States clamor for high-speed rail stimulus funds as applications pour into DC
July 16, 2009By Stephen Lee Davis
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| Amtrak Acela 654 Northbound Originally uploaded by Jim Frazier |
When the stimulus passed in February, $8 billion for high-speed rail was added at the 25th hour, at the behest of the Obama administration. In the days since, states have scrambled to prepare their proposals to receive a share of the money, which will be distributed via a process of competitive grants.
When the administration’s blueprint was released in April, President Obama said “high-speed rail is long-overdue, and this plan lets American travelers know that they are not doomed to a future of long lines at the airports or jammed cars on the highways.”
With states competing for their share of the $8 billion to start developing and building high-speed corridors, competition was sure to be tough. As recently as yesterday, we had heard that $93 billion in grant applications were submitted to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). Just today, we saw this statement from DOT Secretary LaHood’s office detailing an even higher number: 278 pre-applications for grant funding totaling $102 billion. 40 states and the District of Columbia submitted proposals to get a share of the $8 billion available in the stimulus.
“The response has been tremendous and shows that the country is ready for high-speed rail,” Secretary LaHood said. “It’s time to look beyond our highways and invest in public transportation services like rail, which will enhance regional mobility and reduce our carbon footprint.”
Next up for the DOT and the Federal Railroad Administration is figuring out which of these 278 applications to move forward in the process. The first step will likely be figuring out which proposals best line up with the administration’s already-released blueprint for the 10 national high-speed rail corridors. The first grantees will be announced in the fall, according to the DOT release.
Obama outlines a 21st-Century vision for high-speed rail
April 16, 2009By Andrew Bielak
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| Are high speed trains no longer just for Europe and Asia? Photo of Rome Centrale Station by T4 supporter Kenneth G. Sislak |
Updated: More details and a statement from T4 posted here
President Obama made headlines this morning by presenting a blueprint for creating a high-speed rail network in the United States.
By articulating this vision, the administration has put to rest any doubts that it is ready to connect our cities and regions with a 21st century network of passenger rail that will make us globally competitive and help us rebuild our economy for the long haul.
The new administration has already made the single biggest investment in high-speed rail by committing $8 billion in the recovery bill passed in February. At his press conference today, President Obama let Americans know that building out a technologically advanced rail network isn’t a pipe-dream — it’s a much-needed strategy for making our economy viable and putting us on the level of other developed countries for train travel:
“A major new high-speed rail line will generate many thousands of construction jobs over several years, as well as permanent jobs for rail employees and increased economic activity in the destinations these trains serve,” Obama said in prepared remarks. “High-speed rail is long-overdue, and this plan lets American travelers know that they are not doomed to a future of long lines at the airports or jammed cars on the highways.”
Aside from simply articulating his administration’s commitment to passenger rail, President Obama announced the release of a new report that shows how we can help protect our climate, strengthen our economy, and regain our competitive edge by building on a set of 100 to 600 mile rail corridors across the U.S.
Geoff Anderson, the president of Smart Growth America and co-chair of Transportation for America, has been working at the front lines for years to help us grow smarter and build better transportation systems, and found much to support in Obama’s statements.
“It’s really exciting that this administration, unlike past administrations, is interested in transportation and will play a role,” Anderson said. “From the American public standpoint that’s an exciting thing, particularly when he has an understanding of how transportation affects us, from our pocket books to climate change, and from households to the global community.”
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