Reasons to be hopeful, to be concerned, and to take action.
As we have reported, the jobs bill passed by the Senate on Monday contains no investment in 21st-century transportation alternatives like trains. Our partners at Transportation for America are calling on everyone to write Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and ask that he include investment in better transportation in a future jobs package, as more appear to be in the works. Please join us in taking action.
While we’re on the subject of taking action, why not take a minute (especially if you live in or near New Orleans) to ask New Orleans Mayor-elect Mitch Landrieu to make restoring the New Orleans-Florida Gulf Coast Connector a transportation priority. Click here and scroll down to the middle left of the page.
The nascent flow of federal money to intercity passenger rail improvement is jumpstarting rail planning in states that have lagged far behind for decades. One example is West Virginia, where a small group of dedicated NARP members called Friends of the Cardinal is working with influential state legislators to enact a bill that will match $1 billion from the Recovery Act with state funds to put together both a comprehensive rail plan and a high-speed rail plan for the state. The bill, SB 527, is expected to pass the full Senate on Monday, but may face a difficult journey through the House, with the legislative session set to end on March 12. One of the rail advocates working the halls of power in Charleston, long-time NARP member Bonni McKewon, penned an op-ed for the Charleston Gazette. If you live in West Virginia, ask your Delegate in the House to work for swift passage of SB 527. You can also follow Friends of the Cardinal on Twitter.
In answering questions after his testimony [PDF] before the Senate Budget Committee this week, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood proclaimed that “streetcars are coming back to America,” citing Portland, Oregon, as a model for other cities. His comments come as more people are realizing how the world’s most expansive streetcar network, which covered every small and large American city early in this century, was decimated as road-building mania, combined with pressure from oil and rubber interests, made buses the seemingly more economical choice for urban transit. Yet, for a number of reasons, buses don’t attract riders the way streetcars do. More and morecities, with help from Uncle Sam, are looking to join in the American trolley revival.
New York State is already home to more train stations (of all types) than any other state, and intercity service on the New York City-Albany-Buffalo trunk line is set to be upgraded [PDF] thanks to the Recovery Act. Yet many are still pushing for brand-new high-speed tracks along this line, including the President of the state Senate. The means that Sen. Malcolm Smith’s wishes are highly appropriate—a state High-Speed Rail Authority, a council to pursue public-private partnerships, and a business council to raise awareness and build support—but more thinking is needed about how to get there. Continuing to improve service by adding more frequencies and shaving an hour or two off NYC-Buffalo travel time, and investing in connecting bus and rail service to bring more communities on-line will prove to be the best way to get to an even faster future.
LCL: One of Amtrak’s newest stations is far exceeding projections for passenger boardings and alightings since it opened. * * * The Washington-Lynchburg, Va. extension of the Northeast Regionalcontinues to outpace ridership projections. * * * Another sign that passenger train equipment manufacturing in the US is headed for revival. * * * A Seattle resident has a pleasant Amtrak trip to the Vancouver Olympics, but a not-so-pleasant experience with border security. * * * A new Amtrak site caters to African-American riders and students at historically black colleges.
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