Posts Tagged "high speed rail"
Tell Congress to make a historic investment in high speed rail
Congress is heading towards a decisive, historic moment on investing in high speed rail for America. But the outcome is far from certain. In the next few weeks, Congress will decide whether or not to give the Department of Transportation $1.2 billion or $4 billion on high speed rail for the next year. $8 billion was allocated for planning and implementing clean, efficient, high speed train travel in the economic stimulus earlier this year, and with another $4 billion, we’d be making a historic $12 billion investment in high speed rail.Tell Congress to keep $4 billion in the bill at www.fourbillion.com
States clamor for high-speed rail stimulus funds as applications pour into DC
When the stimulus passed in February, $8 billion for high-speed rail was added at the 25th hour, at the behest of the Obama administration. In the days since, states have scrambled to prepare their proposals to receive a share of the money, which will be distributed via a process of competitive grants. With states competing for their share of the $8 billion to start developing and building high-speed corridors, competition was sure to be tough. But did anyone expect this many applications for the funds?
File under: What other countries are doing
This video has made the rounds, but here’s what 357 mph looks like on a TGV train in France. From a 2007 speed test. Pay careful attention at about the 1:40 mark for a sense of perspective as it passes beneath an overpass. Via www.kottke.org
More on today’s high speed rail announcement
President Obama’s remarks from the press conference this morning have been posted on the White House blog. In his remarks, joined by Vice President Biden and Transportation Secretary LaHood, Obama appealed to our national pride and pointed to the benefits that high-speed rail would bring to all Americans: There’s no reason why we can’t do […]
A day of air travel over North America, and what it means for rail
From Wired Magazine via Aaron of Streetsblog comes this amazing map and video that shows a day of air travel over North America. Using data from the Federal Aviation Administration and a service called FlightView that tracks airline travel each day, Artist Aaron Koblin created this Google map that shows 24 hours of airline travel on August 12, 2008. What does this have to do with rail travel?
Transportation numbers emerge on the stimulus
UPDATE (2:00 p.m., 02/12/09): Talking Points Memo has acquired a summary of the new bill, which includes a comparison of each spending item to the House and Senate legislation. It looks like the final number for highways is $27.5 billion. The bill to come out of conference also includes $1.3 billion for Amtrak. — We […]
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