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Flag Stops: October 2009 Roundup
Friday, October 30, 2009
—Malcolm Kenton
Posted by Malcolm Kenton
Tags: amtrak, automobile, california, cascades, economy, expansion, general motors, germany, gmac, gulf states, high-speed rail, jobs, lynchburg, north coast hiawatha, northeast regional, subsidies,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,Southern Cities Discovering that Trains Mean Business
Friday, July 30, 2010
For the past few decades, city boosters in Charlotte, NC, have wanted the Queen City to become more like Atlanta—taking advantage of its location to become one of the Southeast’s premier business hubs. Now, when it comes to modern transportation, it’s Atlanta that is looking enviously towards Charlotte.
Both locales, like all medium- and large-sized US cities, had streetcar networks early in the 20th century. But while Atlanta does have the 30-year-old MARTA heavy rail transit system, it lacks modern streetcar or light rail lines. Charlotte, meanwhile, opened its first light rail line in 2007 and has plans to greatly expand the system. Just this week, Charlotte’s City Council agreed to accept a $25 million federal grant to build an east-west streetcar line to connect with the north-south LYNX light rail line. There are some plans afoot to build new rail transit lines in Atlanta, and a funding application was made in February for a streetcar on Peachtree Street, but Georgia has yet to receive any federal grants for transit.
And it’s not just transit—intercity passenger rail has a lot to do with it as well. Charlotte is connected to Greensboro and Raleigh by six daily Amtrak round-trips, with two daily round-trips linking it to the Northeast Corridor—a link that the Southeast High-Speed Rail Corridor aims to solidify. Credit for this can be given to the state of North Carolina’s decades of planning and investment, while Georgia has spent next to nothing on trains, the result being that Atlanta is served by only one daily Amtrak train in each direction and high(er)-speed rail is a much longer ways off.
This has Atlanta business leaders worried that the metro area, which is suffering from worsening traffic congestion and deteriorating transit service, may be losing jobs to cities like Charlotte. MARTA and its connecting suburban bus systems have the dubious distinction of being the only urban transit system not to receive state funds—they are funded primarily by a 1% sales tax levied only in the counties they serve. This left these systems particularly vulnerable to the effects of the recession on sales tax revenue, resulting major service cutbacks. Yet the Atlanta area remains far behind in the competition for federal transit dollars because its planning process is not as far along as those of Charlotte and other cities.
Hopefully the success of Charlotte’s rail transit investments in catalyzing smarter development—aided by better intercity train connections—will finally persuade Georgia’s political leaders to get serious about passenger rail. Not only are trains (and buses) an essential lifeline for those without access to cars, but they are the most proven way to combat crippling congestion while creating jobs and desirable places to live and work—places centered on people, not cars.
—Malcolm Kenton
Posted by Malcolm Kenton
Tags: atlanta, business, charlotte, economic development, georgia, jobs, light rail, metropolitan, north carolina, passenger trains, rail transit, southeast, streetcars, transit, transportation,©2010 National Association of Railroad Passengers | » NARP website
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