We've Got Big Problems. Here's A Solution. Grab It!
— by Al Swift, Chairman of the Advisory Board, American High Speed Rail Alliance
You know the list: Unemployment, Declining Global Competitiveness, Increasing Green House Gas Emissions, Environmental Degradation, Deteriorating Infrastructure, Highway Congestion.
But, I’ll bet you don’t know that a solution has been staring us in the face for years, just waiting for us to recognize its value … and to grab it.
A major part of any solution to these problems must be higher speed, intercity passenger rail. Its construction and development will create hundreds of thousands of jobs, result in major reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from short-haul air travel and long-distance passenger car trips, help us control the ballooning cost of maintaining the nation’s highway infrastructure and limit congestion on our already crowded roads. Higher speed, intercity passenger rail can contribute to all of those solutions and we must not let it slip through our fingers … again.
Al Swift
When I chaired a House subcommittee with rail jurisdiction, we passed the Swift Rail Development Act of 1994. It was an early effort to develop a high-speed passenger rail system in the United States. It was time for incremental progress for intercity passenger rail in the United States, but other distractions forced it to the background, slowed momentum and, eventually, dried up funding.
But, now, we get a rare second chance. The Obama Administration pushed for $8 billion in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) for intercity passenger rail projects around the country and Congress then wisely included an additional $2.5 billion through the FY2010 appropriations process. You can’t make a profit without an investment. Effective intercity and high-speed rail is an investment that will have a big pay-off for taxpayers. So this funding is a great start towards building a high-speed rail network. But it’s just a start. It is crucial that we keep the momentum.
Congress, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), State DOTs, host freight railroads and others need to navigate the steep learning curve of initiating a new program.
Add to that, all interests need to work together. To my way of thinking, no matter what a group’s specific interest in rail is — incremental intercity progress, true high-speed rail, environmental protection, mobility, economic development, a focus on safety, and so forth — all will benefit from working together. Pushing and shoving to be “first in line” will assure nobody wins. That was part of the problem before.
First, investment. Once people see, touch, experience —
ride — good intercity passenger rail, they love it and demand more. In my home region of the Pacific Northwest, intercity passenger rail has flourished with the Cascades service, which runs from Eugene, Oregon to Vancouver, B.C, by way of Portland, Ore., and Seattle. “The Cascades” service is a huge success. Over the past 16 years, ridership has grown eight-fold, going from 94,061 riders in 1993 to 761,610 in 2009.
So we must get some of the high-speed rail grants out the door ASAP to provide some “wins” for the high-speed rail program and show the American public what improved intercity rail service looks like. Congress should fund high-speed rail at a minimum of $2.5 billion for FY11 to keep up momentum from FY10.
We have the opportunity get this right this time. Grab it!
Former Congressman Al Swift was Chairman of Transportation
Subcommittee of the Energy and Commerce Committee, which had rail
jurisdiction at the time, and is currently chairman of the advisory
board for the American High Speed Rail Alliance, a not-for-profit
501(c)6 organization advocating for the development and implementation
of a high speed passenger rail network in the United States.
