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Near-Term Rail Upgrades are Excellent Job Creators
Monday, February 01, 2010
The Associated Press’s Joan Lowy wrongly downplays the importance of the good American jobs that will be created through the Obama Administration’s investments in higher-speed intercity passenger trains in a Jan. 29 article. “There will be U.S. manufacturing and engineering jobs for slower trains often described as ‘higher speed’ or ‘midspeed,’” she writes, in a tone that suggests that these endeavors are not worthwhile compared to the kind of super high-speed trains that Europe and Asia have. In reality, the Administration’s current strategy is absolutely necessary to reboot domestic railroad manufacturing and engineering industries.
Fifty years ago, while the U.S. let railroads wither while pouring billions into new highways and airports, other industrialized countries did exactly what we are now beginning to do: make important outlays towards expanding and improving their rail networks. This laid the building blocks for their high-speed lines by providing connecting systems that feed passengers to the bullet trains and fostering a culture in which the train is a vital mode of travel.
Admittedly, it will be necessary for the U.S. to gain from other countries’ expertise in the short term, but by awarding contracts to foreign companies now, we will enhance our own knowledge base and quickly become more independent in the rail field.
We cannot simply build brand new high-speed railroads overnight. By gradually strengthening the existing rail network to allow for faster, more frequent passenger (and freight) service, we not only create jobs, but we also enhance the quality of many Americans’ travel experiences.
—Malcolm Kenton
Posted by Malcolm Kenton
Tags: ap, domestic, high-speed rail, jean lowy, job creation, jobs, manufacturing, obama, passenger trains, transportation, travel, upgrades,Unleashed TIGER Forges a New Path
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Just three weeks after history-making intercity passenger train grants were announced, the Obama Administration unveiled $1.5 billion in Recovery Act grants under a revolutionary framework in which rail and transit figure prominently. The program, dubbed Transportation Investments Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER), marks the first time that the US Department of Transportation has awarded money across the institutional barriers that have historically held back funding for railroads and transit—and infrastructure that connects these with the rest of the transportation network.
As with the High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail “pot,” states’ applications greatly exceeded the available funds—$56 requested for every $1 awarded. Determining what percentage of TIGER funds went to each mode of travel is (happily) difficult since many of the projects benefit multiple modes. Grants benefitting passenger rail (including rail transit) total $574.1 million (about 38% of the total), while those aiding freight rail add up to $408.8 billion (about 27%). Transit improvement ventures (subway, light rail, streetcar and bus) got $699 million (about 47%), with highways getting almost 30%, and bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure about 10%.
TIGER’s innovative, merit-based funding mechanism should become the mold in which most future federal transportation financing is cut. Including more funding for TIGER or a similar program in the Jobs Bill (currently before the Senate) would be an ideal way for Congress to signal its commitment to meaningful reform that will give Americans better mobility choices. NARP and our partners in the OneRail Coalition [link to come] will continue to sound the call for strong, balanced transportation investments that put rail in its rightful place as a key component in how America moves.
Read on for an overview of how the awards are distributed, or go here for complete descriptions of each funded project.
—Malcolm Kenton
Posted by Malcolm Kenton
Tags: congress, department of transportation, federal government, funding, grants, infrastructure, investment, job creation, jobs, light rail, passenger trains, railroads, recovery act, stimulus, streetcar, tiger, transit, transportation,Roads, Railways and Runways
Tuesday, September 07, 2010
President Obama’s Labor Day announcement in Milwaukee is praiseworthy, not only because it focuses on creating jobs that address real public needs, but also because the President quietly, but emphatically, placed rail on an equal footing (rhetorically speaking) with highways and aviation. Every time Obama referenced the targets of investment in the speech, he listed the three R’s: roads, railroads and runways. This was also the case in subsequent press coverage of the announcement.
On the rail side, the President called for the construction and maintenance of 4,000 miles of railroad, enough track to go coast-to-coast. It is not known, though, how this will break down between true high-speed and improved conventional-speed track, and in what proportion passenger and freight operations will benefit. Obama also specifically mentioned “a long-overdue overhaul of Amtrak’s fleet” as part of his rail plan—recognizing that new and improved services must be built on the backbone of a healthy Amtrak system. The passenger railroad’s two-sentence statement [PDF] on the Obama plan calls it “a smart move with major benefits for increasing personal mobility, jump-starting job creation and improving the environment.”
The President also lays out his framework for using the next surface transportation policy legislation as a way to lay the foundation for sustainable American prosperity. It includes the establishment of a National Infrastructure Bank to tap private financing for projects in all modes and the integration of high-speed rail into the surface transportation program (from which intercity passenger rail is currently left out). Obama also stressed that transportation policy should work to enhance the livability of communities and environmental sustainability in addition to safety and economic competitiveness.
The President has heard Americans’ cries for more and better travel choices and for good domestic jobs, and has responded with a promising proposal. NARP, along with our partners at OneRail and Transportation for America, will remain engaged in the battle to turn the president’s promising words into deeds. Getting there will require reliable, dedicated funding as well as continued strong support from the White House and from Congress, private railroads, and—most importantly—the traveling public.
—Malcolm Kenton
Posted by Malcolm Kenton
Tags: economic recovery, goals, infrastructure plan, job creation, labor day, president obama, railroads, roads, runways, transportation investment,Siemens Makes Jobs Case for Fast Trains
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
In a Bloomberg News report, Oliver Hauck, President and CEO of train builder Siemens’ U.S. division, makes a strong economic case for American high-speed rail. His is one of the companies bidding of the design-build-operate-maintain contract for a new bullet train line between Orlando and Tampa, Florida.
“We consider ourselves an American company,” Hauck explains. “We have more than 60,000 [employees] in the U.S., 5,000 of them in Florida. It is our home turf, and we want to bring this technology to the US. We think it’s a required technology for the United States to [stay competitive with other countries].”
Florida’s new trains are estimated to produce 27,500 new jobs, according to a study Siemens did for the U.S. Conference of Mayors. “We will see commercial, industrial and public investment going along those lines, and we estimate there will be 50,000 more jobs in greater Orlando because of this project,” Hauck says.
He also puts in a good word for bringing “higher-speed” service (120 to 150 mph maximum) to existing railroads.
—Malcolm Kenton
Posted by Malcolm Kenton
Tags: bloomberg, economic development, florida, high-speed rail, job creation, oliver hauck, orlando, siemens, tampa,Ohioan to Kasich: “When will my needs be considered?”
Friday, November 19, 2010
An open letter from Cleveland resident Angie Schmitt to Ohio Governor-elect John Kasich, originally posted on Streetsblog Capitol Hill, has been making the rounds of alternative transportation advocacy blogs, but it is worth reprinting its key points here as it exemplifies how the 3C Corridor trains would improve the lives of ordinary people in ways that just building new or repairing old roads cannot.
Here are some excerpts:
Forgive my confusion, but I fail to see how returning $400 million in federal money is the right decision for a state with our record on unemployment. According to the Ohio Department of Transportation, that infusion of cash would have immediately created 255 jobs. The U.S. Department of Commerce suggested it would result in a total of 8,000 spin-off jobs.
...
...[A]re you aware that at the time of the latest census, 374,000 Ohio households did not have a private vehicle available to them? This represents more than eight percent of the state’s households.It frustrates me when I hear people make unqualified statements such as “no one will ride it” because I, for one, would ride it. See, I own a car but prefer other modes of transportation. I like to bike and take public transit. It saves me money and it makes me feel like I’m doing my part to preserve the environment.
...
Ohio’s current infrastructure, as convenient as it may be for those who just love going everywhere by private car, isn’t serving people like me very well. Nor is it serving the hundreds of thousands of households who lack access to private automobiles.
....
Another complaint one hears about the rail system is that it wouldn’t be self-supporting and would have to be subsidized by the state. To this, I say: show me a transportation mode that doesn’t require public subsidy. Certainly not private automobiles, which require enormous public expenditures on roads and parking, far above and beyond what drivers themselves contribute.
...
It makes me question my future in this state. I read today that fewer young people across the nation are choosing to get driver’s licenses and purchase cars. This is part of a national trend away from car-based lifestyles. I consider myself a part of this movement. But the message I am getting from the state of Ohio is that there’s no room for people like me here.
...
So, although it seems like your mind is made up on this issue, I still feel compelled to ask you: Please don’t kill 3C rail in Ohio. I was planning to use it to visit my parents in Columbus and, later, if the corridor were to expand as seemed likely, Toledo. It would have made it possible for me to get rid of my car.I’ve done the right thing. I’ve paid my taxes. I’ve tried to help contribute to the state’s future prosperity. When will my needs be considered? Or do I have to move to another state for that?
Posted by Malcolm Kenton
Tags: 3c corridor, job creation, john kasich, ohio, open letter, passenger trains, streetsblog,Morning Radio Show on High Speed Rail in Florida and Nationally
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Public radio’s Marketplace Morning Report’s economics correspondent Chris Farrell “digs into” the issue in a very positive way. Host Jeremy Hobson began the segment like this: “The Florida Department of Transportation has released a study showing that the proposed high speed rail line between Tampa and Orlando would have had more than three million riders. And would have made money in its first year. But as you may remember the Governor of Florida turned down federal funds for the project.”
And Farrell began his answer to the question “how important is high—speed rail for the economies of various regions n the country” like this: “I think that high-speed rail is important in the short run because it will provide a lot of construction jobs. And in the long run, I think it’s very important in a region because we have an aging infrastructure, we have increasing congestion, and Jeremy, I don’t know if you noticed, but we also have a high price of oil. So high-speed rail will help move people cheaper, faster and easier.”
Click here to read the full report or listen to the segment. You can also read comments of other listeners and post your own comments.
—Ross Capon
Posted by NARP
Tags: chris farrell, congestion, florida hsr, high-speed rail, job creation, npr, npr marketplace, oil prices, rick scott,Transportation investment is inherently valuable; job creation is an important side benefit
Wednesday, December 07, 2011
Hat tip: Streetsblog Capitol Hill
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is understandably fond of emphasizing the number of jobs that projects funded by his Department, particularly those under the High-Speed and Intercity Passenger Rail program, have created or will create. He reiterated this case in testimony before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee yesterday.
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| London’s Paddington station. Photo by dipfan on Flickr |
Given the persistently high national unemployment rate, touting job creation is an important way to win the support of Americans and the officials they elect. And it’s certainly true that the construction and replacement of railroad infrastructure and the operation of passenger train systems generates good-paying jobs that cannot be outsourced.
But perhaps job creation should not be thought of as the number one reason to invest in transportation and infrastructure upgrades. Instead, the value to the economy and society inherent in the efficient, reliable movement of people and goods should be enough to justify a consistent, high level of investment in transportation. This is the conclusion reached by five former Secretaries of Transportation of both parties who participated in a panel last week at the University of Virginia.
President Ronald Reagan’s deputy transportation secretary James Burnley put it this way:
We need to convince the American people that we need to invest in transportation infrastructure because we need to invest in transportation infrastructure. If we sell that idea – not as a jobs program, but because it affects the ability of our economy to grow over time, our international competitiveness and all the other things that we believe it affects, then we’ve got a fighting shot at convincing the American people that the resources that we believe ought to be devoted to transportation should be devoted to it.
Posted by Malcolm Kenton
Tags: auto dependence, economics, job creation, mobility, transportation funding, transportation investment, us dot,©2010 National Association of Railroad Passengers | » NARP website
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