Riding Passenger Trains to Economic Recovery

Riding passenger trains to an economic recovery

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

John Rosenthal wrote an excellent piece for Bloomberg on the rise and fall of high-speed rail’s bipartisan credentials, and why it is absolutely vital for America’s elected officials to get back on course.

“Riding High-Speed Rail to a U.S. Recovery,” published December 18, discusses the near-universal enthusiasm that initially met the unveiling of President Barack Obama’s Vision For High-Speed Rail in America:

Because of its ingenious scope, neither the airlines nor the auto industry contested the plan. It targeted corridors among major cities that are too far apart to drive, but too close to make flying worth the time and hassle of trudging through airport security: Chicago, Detroit, St. Louis and Milwaukee, for example, or Atlanta, Charlotte, Birmingham and New Orleans. Although trains wouldn’t compete with planes between New York and Los Angeles or, for that matter, Chicago, the plan would put high-speed rail within the reach of 80 percent of Americans.

Rosenthal traces the first moments of discord to the surge in power of the Tea Party, which sent a host of anti-government-investment legislators to Congress.  He also makes a compelling case why this is a terrible move for America’s transportation network and economy:

From the Appian Way to the Erie Canal, economic development has always followed transportation. Businesses small and large cluster around train depots, propelling real estate values and generating millions in new property taxes. The U.S. built its way out of the Depression by investing in massive projects such as the Empire State Building, the Hoover Dam and the Blue Ridge Parkway. High-speed rail is a time-proven way out of today’s economic morass.

It is undoubtedly expensive. And rejecting the massive investments required as wasteful spending would be easy if America’s transportation needs were stagnant. But they aren’t. The Census Bureau estimates that the population will grow by 100 million over the next 40 years. And most of those people will reside in urban areas where airports and highways are already bursting at the seams.

Compared with the cost of building new airports, widening interstates, relocating highway sound barriers, and erecting millions of parking lots, high-speed rail is a bargain.

Rosenthal’s work is definitely worth a full read.  You can find the full article here.

 

Posted by NARP

Tags: bloomberg, high-speed rail, jeff rosenthal, obama
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