Unprecedented $8 Billion for High Speed Rail, $8.4 B for Transit
In a bold and far-sighted move, Congress added $8 billion in the American Reinvestment and Economic Recovery Act for development of high speed rail. This amount was a four-fold increase from the Senate version of the bill and came on top of $8.4 designated for other public transportation uses.
“This bill, especially the money for high speed rail, marks a bold step for 21st century transportation,” said Ilicia Balaban, Transportation Advocate for the Connecticut Public Interest Research Group (ConnPIRG). “After decades of looking on with envy at efficient bullet trains overseas, American high speed rail is finally leaving the station.”
The additional high speed rail funds mark the second time that public transportation has bucked the general trend in the Recovery Act. When the bill came to the floor of the House, dozens of amendments for additional were all defeated – with the sole exception of a measure to add $3 billion to public transportation. That amendment passed on a voice vote without opposition and with speeches of support from Republicans.
The $8.4 billion transit total is the same as in the earlier Senate version and less than proposed by the House. According to a statement from Speaker Pelosi’s office outlining the amounts, the transit money, “Includes funds for new construction of commuter and light rail, modernizing existing transit systems, and purchasing buses and equipment to needed to increase public transportation and improve intermodal and transit facilities.” Pelosi’s office noted that, “states have 787 ready-to-go transit projects totaling about $16 billion.”
The money for high speed rail will be spent largely on projects to build and improve tracks, signals, and stations, as well as to make pedestrian, auto and transit crossings safer near corridors where trains will reach speeds in excess of 150 mph. In many places, projects will also involve electrification. Californians recently passed a $10 billion ballot question for a North-South high speed rail link for trains which will travel over 200 mph. The project will avoid the need for costly airport and highway expansion and millions of gallons of oil consumption.
The push for high speed rail and transit comes at a time of record levels of public transportation ridership and growing frustration with airports. Europe, Japan, and China, our major economic competitors, already have thousands of miles of high speed rail. Experts generally see high speed rail as a more efficient and time-saving option than airplanes for trips less than 500 miles.
Said Balaban, “funds for transit and high speed rail will get Americans back to work while reducing dependence on oil and congestion at highways and airports.”
