Post Tagged with: "Stimulus Bill"

Stimulus Flows Into Patchwork of State Transport Projects

March 3, 2009 at 8:31 pm

(Source:  New York Times)

Kansas will widen U.S. Route 69 to remove a bottleneck outside Kansas City, along with three other expensive projects. Maryland will spend its money in smaller pieces, resurfacing dozens of rutted roads and highways. Colorado will build an interchange on Elk Creek Road in Jefferson County, complete with an underpass for the elk.

There is nothing monumental inPresident Obama’s plan to revive the economy with a coast-to-coast building spree, no historic New Deal public works. The goal of the stimulus plan was to put people to work quickly, and so states across the country have begun to spend nearly $50 billion on thousands of smaller transportation projects that could employ up to 400,000 people, by the administration’s estimates.

Stimulus for Transportation Projects

Click here to read the entire article.

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Will Stimulus be Enough to Bring High-Speed Rail to America? – A TreeHugger interview ith Andy Kunz

March 1, 2009 at 9:28 pm

(Source: TreeHugger)

shanghai station
Rail station in Shanghai, China (photo via thetransportpolitic.com)

About a year ago, TreeHugger interviewed Andy Kunz, an urban designer, New Urbanist and rail advocate. Kunz laid out a pretty convincing case for high speed rail as the solution for a number of problems facing American transportation, including outdated infrastructure, peak oil (or “energy independence,” depending how you look at it), out of control carbon emissions, and more.

In fact, Kunz said, we were at a fork in the road, and building a new national high-speed rail network was the “single most important action we can do to get us off the oil and change the direction of the nation for the better.” TreeHugger decided to catch up with Andy Kunz for another conversation about rail and high-speed rail in America, now that it seems the idea is finally catching on.

TreeHugger: Andy, a lot has happened since we last spoke about a year ago. The concept of high-speed rail in America, which a year ago was on very few people’s agendas, has now become an almost mainstream idea. Transit ridership is way up all over, and a high-speed rail line has been approved in California. As an advocate for high-speed rail, how have you experienced the events of the past year?

Andy Kunz: With great excitement! It’s really amazing what has changed and how quickly! It’s truly an unbelievable time in the history of America – unfolding as we speak. I am of course very saddened to see the suffering this recession is causing, and it’s unfortunate that we have to go through such a big disaster to change our ways. It would be so much easier and less painful if we just planned these changes during normal times.

Nonetheless, the fact that so many people are discovering rail as a great form of transportation is spectacular! We are entering a new green era that includes green living, green energy, and green transportation. Out of this I see a huge opportunity to fundamentally change America for the better with high quality rail transportation and great walkable communities for everyone.

Click here to read the rest of this interesting interview.

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Obama backs high-speed rail service | CourierPostOnline.com | Courier-Post

February 27, 2009 at 11:24 am

Obama backs high-speed rail service | CourierPostOnline.com | Courier-Post.

President Barack Obama on Thursday proposed setting aside $5 billion over the next five years so states could boost high-speed rail service.

 

States would have to compete for the grants, which would total $1 billion each year beginning in 2010.

The money was part of Obama’s $3.55 trillion budget plan for next year. The White House only released the budget highlights; the detailed spending blueprint is scheduled to be unveiled in April.

The rail money comes on top of $8 billion for high-speed rail in the $787 billion economic stimulus plan Obama signed into law this month

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Telebriefing: Transportation experts discuss transportation stimulus spending

February 25, 2009 at 2:21 pm

(Source: Transportation for America)

In a telebriefing last week moderated by Transportation for America campaign manager James Corless, a panel of transportation experts from range of backgrounds discussed the transportation infrastructure portion of the stimulus bill and what it means for the future of our transportation system.

The group of panelists – which included Meridian, Mississippi Mayor and rail advocate John Robert Smith, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Secretary and American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials President Allen Biehler, Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) General Manager and CEO Beverly Scott, and Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Rob Puentes – spoke optimistically about the potential for stimulus dollars to jump start the economy with investments in projects across the country and put a down payment on a balanced, 21st-Century transportation system.

A variety of transportation and infrastructure reporters, including Alex MacGillis of the Washington Postand Michael Cooper of the New York Times, were included in the call, and asked the panelists a number of questions about the logistics of spending the stimulus dollars, the impact it will have on reauthorization, and the how the stimulus compares to previous investments in infrastructure.

Click here to read the entire article and to listen/download this interesting telebriefing in MP3 format.

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