Statement of John Krieger, Federal Transportation Policy Analyst for the US Public Interest Research Group on today’s announcement of $8 billion in funding to build and plan for high speed rail around the country under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
WASHINGTON, Jan. 28 - “The President followed up on last night’s commitment to job creation by announcing today that 31 states will benefit from $8 billion in funding to build or plan for high-speed rail. Today’s down payment starts the long journey towards a stronger, faster rail system for America.
"High-speed rail will put thousands of people to work, clean our air, cut our energy-consumption, and assist in the resurgence of American manufacturing. For millions of inter-city trips, high-speed rail will be a faster, cleaner, more efficient way to travel than driving or flying.
"Congress needs to follow up on this initial investment by securing more long-term funding for both high-speed rail and the local public transit systems that will feed into it. There will never be a shortage of workers ready to build these projects, or riders ready to use them, but in order to completely realize clean, efficient transportation in America, today’s investment must be followed by a continued commitment from our leaders on all levels of government.”
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U.S. PIRG, federation of state Public Interest Research Groups, is a non-profit, non-partisan public interest advocacy organization.
On Feb. 9, we will release The Right Track: Building a 21st Century High Speed Rail System for America, a major national research report quantifying the public interest benefits of high speed rail.
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