Kate Hinds

(Kate Hinds, Transportation Nation) After running Long Island Bus for nearly 40 years, the MTA voted Wednesday to end its contract with Nassau County to provide the service.

The agency said it made the move because it has had to cover an increasingly large share of the costs, and it will cease responsibility for the bus service by the end of the calendar year.

The MTA and Nassau County had been negotiating for months about how much the county should contribute to the MTA. On Wednesday, the MTA board said it wanted to give Nassau County as much lead time as possible — in this case, eight months — to prepare to assume responsibility for Long Island Bus.

"To take care of the riders of Nassau County, the MTA has provided $140 million, which has not been provided to the riders of Suffolk County, Westchester County, Dutchess County, Rockland County, Orange County, Putnam County and the City of New York for the bus systems that we took over," said board member and Suffolk County resident Mitchell Pally.

"I think it's clear to say that the only people who have been protecting the riders for the last 10 years in Nassau County is this board, not Nassau County."

But Nassau County executive Edward Mangano took issue with the MTA's decision — as well as with who owes whom.

"It's a sad day in America when a government agency such as the MTA chooses to maintain its bloated bureaucracy over the services it is charged to provide its residents," he said in a statement released Wednesday. "Because the MTA has failed taxpayers time and time again, Nassau County will move forward with a public-private partnership that maintains bus service without demanding an additional $26 million from taxpayers. ... The MTA's monopoly over transportation in Nassau County ends now."

A spokesperson from Mangano's office said that plans for privatization of Long Island Bus are underway. A committee is reviewing bids from three private companies and is expected to provide a recommendation to the county executive by May 15.

Any recommendation would then have to be approved by the state legislature. The spokesman said that a new operator will be in place by January first.

Long Island Bus carries about 95,720 383,000 riders each weekday and serves 48 routes.

Follow Transportation Nation on Twitter.

After running Long Island Bus for nearly 40 years, the MTA voted Wednesday to end its contract with Nassau County to provide the service.

(Kate Hinds, Transportation Nation) Construction for the Minneapolis-St. Paul light rail project known as the Central Corridor has been underway for some time now (and AP reports the line is now 12% complete). But it wasn't until yesterday that the federal government officially signed a funding commitment to pay for half the line's almost $1 billion cost. As Ray LaHood wrote in his blog: "What I really admire about the Twin Cities community is that they didn't wait for this agreement before getting started."

FTA Administrator Rogoff with Gov. Mark Dayton, US Senator Al Franken, and Twin Cities mayors Rybak and Coleman (photo courtesy of Fastlane.dot.gov)

The Federal Transit Administration is contributing $478 million. The rest of the money is coming from state and local sources.

Follow Transportation Nation on Twitter.

The light rail project has generated some controversy. Three lawsuits have been filed over it--including one from Minnesota Public Radio, which is concerned about rail noise affecting its broadcasting capabilities. And there have been civil rights implications as well. As Transportation Nation reported in its documentary "Back of the Bus: Race, Mass Transit and Inequality," initially the light rail line was going to go through--not stop--in the historically black Rondo neighborhood.

Service on the 11-mile light rail line is expected to begin in 2014.

More on the political implications of volatile gas prices--as well as oil company subsidies--from the Wall Street Journal.  The Takeaway talks about what -- if anything -- Congress can do to lower them.

Cabbies say the reason they often refuse to take passengers to New York's outer boroughs is because of their bottom line. (WNYC)

USA Today looks at suburbanization, and says most of the growth is happening on opposite ends of the suburban expanse: in older communities closest to the city and in the newer ones that are the farthest out.

The first crash test evaluations of the Chevy Volt and the Nissan Leaf earned the cars high safety ratings from the IIHS; AP video below.

Speaking of EVs: an unmodified Nissan Leaf is entering a steep hill climb race. (Inhabitat)

An audit found that Los Angeles is losing up to $15 million in revenue because the city barely captures half of the parking fines owed to it. (Los Angeles Times)

North Dakota became the 31st state to ban texting while driving. (Grand Forks Herald)

Utah lawmakers have scheduled a vote on whether to overturn the governor's veto of a bill that dedicates a portion of the state sales tax to transportation. (Daily Herald)

NYC DOT puts a digital speed detector at an intersection in Staten Island because "two out of every three cars were exceeding the speed limit," according to commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan. (Staten Island Advance)

Transparency watch: NY's MTA has a board meeting this morning at 9:30am; you can watch it here.

Despite moving forward on creating their own electric vehicles, the head of BMW says he doesn't think EVs are right for more than 10% of the population. (Fast Company)

Follow Transportation Nation on Twitter.

In case you missed it on Transportation Nation:

--The NYPD ticketed cyclists for not riding in a bike lane (link)

--BART wants rider input on new seat design (link)

--TN's Andrea Bernstein will be at the NYC Transit Museum tonight to talk about the past -- and future -- of Penn Station (link)

TN's Andrea Bernstein is moderating a panel Wednesday night (April 27th) at 6pm on Penn Station. The discussion will cover the station's stories past...

Penn Station, circa 1962 (Cervin Robinson; public domain via Wikimedia Commons)

...and its future:

A rendering of the future Moynihan Station

It will be at the NYC Transit Museum -- a treasure in its own right. Doors open at 5:30 pm. The program is free and open to the public; more info below.

From the Transit Museum's website:

Registration is recommended for these programs, call 718-694-1794.

Wednesday, April 27 6 p.m.
THE ONCE AND FUTURE PENNSYLVANIA STATION
Andrea Bernstein -- Director of Transportation Nation and award-winning WNYC journalist heading up coverage of transportation, urban planning, and sustainability -- will moderate a discussion with acclaimed authors Jill Jonnes (Conquering Gotham), Lorraine Diehl (The Late, Great Pennsylvania Station), and Senior Planner Juliette Michaelson of the Regional Plan Association. The panel will consider the themes of the Museum’s current exhibition, The Once and Future Pennsylvania Station, addressing its inception, evolution, and the future Moynihan Station.

Ford had its most profitable quarter in 13 years. (Detroit Free Press)

AAA says the rise in gas prices has led to a rise in people running out of fuel on the roads. (KHOU)

The Crow Reservation in Montana has launched a transit program. (Billings Gazette)

George Michael song or vehicle name? Sweden is testing the "Arctic Whisper," which is "the world’s first fast-charging serial hybrid bus." (Autopia)

China's high-speed rail system is under scrutiny amid concerns that builders ignored safety in order to build ever-faster trains. (Washington Post)

Marketplace launched an "Oil Through the Ages" map.

NYC's Taxi and Limousine commission has approved a Mercedes for use as a yellow cab. (NY Daily News)

If you see a scary video, share a scary video: NY's MTA launched a Department of Homeland Security-funded ad campaign (video below).

Follow Transportation Nation on Twitter.

In case you missed it on Transportation Nation:

-- Illinois will now track "dooring" collisions. (Link)

-- Will transportation apps revolutionize transit? (Link)

-- The Taxi of Tomorrow might be built in Brooklyn. (Link)

Japanese automakers release March numbers -- the first hard numbers since the earthquake and tsunami.  (The Takeaway)

Denver is pairing transit and development. (Denver Post)

A NYT op-ed piece compares the president's current plan for high-speed rail to the building of the transcontinental railroads in the 1800s; the writer says that both sacrificed public good for private gain. (NYT)

Not all of NYC's bicyclists are happy with the new bike lanes. (Wall Street Journal)

The St. Louis airport is operating at 85% after tornado damage.

A contender for New York's "Taxi of Tomorrow" says that if it wins the contract, it will build its vehicles in Brooklyn. (NY1)

After years of planning, Birmingham (MI) pulls out of a transit plan with neighboring Troy. (Detroit Free Press)

Follow Transportation Nation on Twitter.

In case you missed it on Transportation Nation:

- Membership in DC's Capital Bikeshare nearly doubles after an online coupon deal (Link)

(Kate Hinds and Nancy Solomon, Transportation Nation) Since 2006, New York City has added 250 miles of bike lanes in an effort, Mayor Bloomberg says, to improve traffic, air quality, and ultimately, public health. But while polls show support for bike lanes, opposition has been loud -- and vehement -- around the city.  So WNYC's Transportation Nation team got to wondering: do Europeans just like biking more than New Yorkers?

Bicycle parking outside a Copenhagen train station (photo by Jim Colgan)

We spoke to Danes and New Yorkers to see if we could figure this out.

On a recent trip to Aarhus -- Denmark’s second largest city -- all of the guests at a dinner party have kids, cycle to work and do most errands by bike, even though each family owns a car. Lars Villemoes said he prefers to bike even when it's raining.

“It’s a really good feeling, I love it in the morning, I go faster every morning and I love it when I see the line of cars and I just go past them, that’s such a good feeling,” he said.

Follow Transportation Nation on Twitter

“The safety has to be considered because in order to take your children you have to be absolutely safe about this,” said his friend Lone Maribo. She added: “And I think taking your children is the first step to changing the culture, isn't it?"

The culture she is referring to is not just a small subculture. Eighteen percent of Danish commuters bike to work. Busy thoroughfares have bike lanes separated by a curb and traffic lights just for bikes. The lanes get a steady flow of cyclists -- young, old, women, white collar workers in suits -- and the story is the same in Holland and Germany.

If you're wondering how all these contentious budget deals are affecting plans -- and money -- for high-speed rail, Transportation Nation's Andrea Bernstein combed through the reports to find out. (The Takeaway)

China is also putting the brakes on high-speed, but for another reason. China slows down its bullet train over safety concerns. (WSJ)

After a second air traffic controller fell asleep working the lonely night shift, the FAA has announced it will add a second controller overnights at 26 airports, including D.C.'s Reagan National. (WAMU) But are air traffic controllers just plain overworked? (The Takeaway)

ZipCar, the country's largest carsharing company, has gone public, raising more than 31 percent above the expected offering price. (Bloomberg) That's all without the company actually making a profit. Marketplace explains that's not because the model doesn't work, but because buying all those cars to expand to new cities keeps the company in the red.

If it still ruffles your feathers to pay to check a bag while flying, consider that you don't get a refund on that fee when the airlines loose your luggage. Well the DOT wants to change that. (AP) Security pat-downs are also under review. After a You Tube video showed a six-year-old enduring a security pat-down, the TSA is considering changes to the policy. (Denver Post)

IBM and U.C. Berkeley are teaming up, and using smart phones, to tackle traffic jams. (Wired)

If freight trucking is an economic indicator, this isn't the best news. Road freight shipments fell 1.5 percent in February. (TruckingInfo)

(Photo: Asian Development Bank)

The city of Mandaluyong in the Philippines just launched a plan to use electric tricycles as public transportation. It's part of a wider effort to reduce air pollution. (TheCityFix)

The Texas Rangers are suing a former team owner for planning to price gouge fans for parking at the ballpark this season. (Dallas Morning News)

Like many transit systems facing budget cutbacks, D.C. area Metro is considering cutting bus routes, increasing weekend wait times, and eliminating subsidies. It is not considering fare hikes... now. (WAMU)

Maryland has voted down a gas tax increase. They did, however, raised taxes on alcohol. But, the booze surcharge won't go to transportation projects. (WAMU)

And on NYC bike lane usage, Streetsblog takes the same data as the NY Post, but draws the opposite conclusions. People use the bike lanes a lot, they find. (Streetsblog)

(Kate Hinds, Transportation Nation) At tonight's Community Board 6 meeting in Brooklyn, among the many items on the agenda is a vote on whether to support the New York City Department of Transportation's proposed revisions to the Prospect Park West bike lane. These include the installation of raised pedestrian median islands, the installation of rumble strips, and the configuration of the Ninth Street loading zone.

The community board will also be making some suggestions of its own, like asking the DOT to reconsider the signalization of the bike lane and adding louvers on the flashing yellow signals so only bicyclists, not motorists, would see them.

The board would also like the DOT to identify opportunities to restore some parking spaces.  "I think parking was probably one of the biggest issues on our residents' minds," said Craig Hammerman, the district manager for Community Board 6, who said that the board would like to DOT to "consider changing the configuration of some of the traffic islands. Instead of being these 70 - to 80- foot-long safety zones, that they instead be potentially cut in half to allow for parking spaces in between."

You can read the resolution here.

Before the meeting even starts, Jim Walden, the attorney for the group suing to remove the bike line, is sending a letter to be read at tonight's meeting. Walden says he'd like the board to defer voting on the lane's reconfiguration until "after a full and meaningful discussion about alternative configurations, which will include more pointed questions for DOT about the various decisions it made to 'sell' a dangerous bike lane to your community."

PPW Letter to C Hammerman and D Kummer

This just in from the FAA:

The FAA Announces Additional Staffing at 27 Control Towers

WASHINGTON – Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Administrator Randy Babbitt announced today that effective immediately the FAA will place an additional air traffic controller on the midnight shift at 27 control towers around the country that are currently staffed with only one controller during that time.

"I am totally outraged by these incidents. This is absolutely unacceptable," said Secretary LaHood. "The American public trusts us to run a safe system. Safety is our number one priority and I am committed to working 24/7 until these problems are corrected."

New York City has added 250 miles of bike lanes since 2006 in an effort, according to Mayor Michael Bloomberg, to improve traffic, air quality and ultimately public health. But as polls show support for bike lanes, opposition has been loud — and vehement — around the city. 

Ohio has pulled nearly $52 million in funding for Cincinnati's proposed streetcar project. (Cincinnati.com)

DC's Metro says a new report shows that an increase in peak fares has not stopped riders from using the system (WAMU).

The Red Line rolls into Metro's Judiciary Square station (photo by Kate Hinds)

State and local officials in Virginia have taken the next steps in their fight to block a plan to build a new underground metro station at Dulles airport. (WAMU)

Gas prices are up 40% over last year, and economists are debating the effect on consumers. (NPR)

So are drivers buying less gas? Or are fuel-efficient vehicles partially responsible for a slowdown in gas sales? (Marketplace)

The Center for Public Integrity investigates predatory auto loans -- the same scams outlawed by Congress after the mortgage crisis.

ProPublica reports that natural gas might not be cleaner than burning coal.

The New York Post says a new study contradicts the NYC DOT's cycling numbers.

New York's MTA sometimes uses regular subway cars --with passengers on them -- to haul garbage. (NY Daily News)

Virgin Atlantic blogs about the strangest items passengers have tried to pass off as checked baggage, including bathtubs, dead cows, and a bag of cutlery previously stolen from another Virgin Atlantic flight.

Top Transportation Nation stories we're following: The US DOT conducts surprise bus inspections -- and finds that one in 10 are unsafe. A budget deal is made -- and the slashing isn't just for high-speed rail. The Willis Avenue bridge makes its final journey. Bikes are now used to sell bridal wear. And: the San Francisco Bay Area's most dangerous transit mile.

Gasoline sales have fallen for five straight weeks, signaling that pump prices may have reached an economic tipping point. (Marketplace)

The former Port Authority of NY-NJ chair says he's turning his attention to the president’s goal of creating a nationwide high-speed rail network (Star-Ledger). (Although the president's plans just took a big hit.)

Detroit's City Council approved a bond sale that will fund the city's new light rail system. (AP via BusinessWeek)

The Congressional budget deal spares $150 million in federal money for DC's Metro. (Washington Post)

The New York City's Department of Transportation is dropping plans for a four-mile bike lane that would have run along Bay Ridge Parkway in Brooklyn. (NY Post)

Meanwhile, NY1 says that NYC DOT head Janette Sadik-Khan is trying to rebuild good will, one intersection at a time.

One man decided to race a New York City bus on a Big Wheel bike for a mile down 42nd street to make a point about public transportation being slow. Guess who wins? (Video below, via Good.)

Top Transportation Nation stories we're following: the budget deal has gutted high-speed rail funding. NYC is installing more countdown clocks at dangerous pedestrian intersections. And we mapped who got fined in NYC for not shoveling their sidewalks during snowstorms.

Seattle looks at how to replace a highway: dig a tunnel - OR put in a surface boulevard with "new public transit options"? (New York Times)

The Texas legislature is considering a bill that would raise speed limits to 85 mph on some highways (Houston Chronicle).

Funding trouble for New York's MTA? Cuts in federal support look likely. Meanwhile, a state senator wants to eliminate the 50-cent surcharge on city taxis. (Crain's NY)

The New York Daily News reports on misdemeanor sex crimes on the subway --  "the No. 1 quality-of-life offense on the subway," says one former official.

As Washington DC gains whites and Latinos, some talk about the city's demographic change -- including one political strategist, who says: “The new white voters....want doggie parks and bike lanes. The result is a lot of tension." (Washington Post)

A professor from the Netherlands has designed a six-wheel electric 'super bus' with top speeds of 155 mph. Video, in Dutch, below. (Jalopnik)

Arizona public transit drivers competed in a ‘Rural Transit Roadeo’, which consisted of an obstacle course, written test and safety skill demonstration. (KNVX-TV)

The Colorado cities of Loveland and Fort Collins are looking at establishing a regional system. (The Coloradoan)

Chevy Volt (Photo: GM)

Are sales of electric vehicles behind the growth in the US economy? (The Takeaway)

Toyota and Nissan restart production (Marketplace).

The nuclear disaster in Japan could undermine support for nuclear power here in the US -- and build support for natural gas. (NPR)

A new report says half of New Jersey's highways are deficient. (AP via the Star-Ledger)

More on New York's parking placards in the NY Daily News and NY Times.

Can smartphones -- with commuting apps -- get people out of cars and onto public transit? (Wired)

Amtrak says it's on track for record ridership. (The Hill)

Will a new stadium for the Atlanta Falcons spur economic development -- or acres of empty parking lots? (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

The Los Angeles Metro launched what it says is the nation's first major public transit agency's Spanish language blog (The Source). Called El Pasajero, the blog formally launches today.

Top Transportation Nation stories we're following: NY Gov. Cuomo tightens parking placard rules; Caltrain isn't slashing service...yet; traffic light timing is adjusted in Central Park's loop; Dulles's Metrorail link answers the question 'over or under?,' and: how much high-speed rail will $2.4 billion buy?

President Barack Obama inspects an AT&T all-electric vehicle on display during a tour of the UPS facility in Landover, Md., April 1, 2011. (Office White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Rising gas prices present a problem for President Obama's reelection hopes. (Los Angeles Times)

Meanwhile, in Pennsylvania yesterday, he talked about electric vehicles, increasing fuel-efficiency standards, and alternative energy sources. (White House transcript)

Gothamist interviewed the bicyclist who was arrested on Manhattan's Upper West Side for either running a red light or resisting arrest.

Swedish automaker Saab has temporarily shut down production due to "limited liquidity," lack of supplies, and ongoing negotiations with suppliers who need to be paid (Wall Street Journal). Meanwhile, a slowdown in Toyota's production is causing ripple effects in Japan (NPR).

But it's not all bad news for Toyota, which just sold its one millionth Prius in the U.S. (Wired/Autopia)

New York's fire department is expanding a program that requires firefighters to follow traffic laws, operate at reduced speeds and turn off lights and sirens when responding to certain non-life threatening emergencies to Brooklyn and Staten Island after a successful pilot program in Queens. (WNYC)

Caltrain cuts may not be as bad as originally projected, but "there is still some pain." (San Francisco Chronicle)

The Citizens Budget Commission released a report that says New York's subways are among the most efficient in the country -- but the MTA's bus operations, and two commuter rail roads, are "relatively inefficient."  Download the report (pdf): Benchmarking Efficiency for the MTA's Efficiency Standards

Stanford University has founded a program for the cross-cultural study of the automobile. (New York Times)

The New York Yankees and the MTA agreed to return the B, D and 4 subway lines to the "Great New York Subway Race," the animated mid-game scoreboard segment. (NY Daily News)

Make mine a double: new double-decker buses roll out in Seattle. (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)

Top Transportation Nation stories we're following: After Transportation Nation report,Governor Cuomo says he'll overhaul  the state system of handing out free parking placard as perks to state employees. A NY State Senator introduced a license plate bill that he'd benefit from.  The applications are in for Florida's rejected high-speed rail money.Congress floats new motorcoach safety bills. And labor leaders and transit advocates talk about equity with DOT officials.

New York State Senator Ruben Diaz (D-32)

(Kate Hinds, Transportation Nation) At yesterday's New York State Senate Transportation Committee meeting, nine pieces of legislation were on the agenda. Three of those bills were sponsored by State Senator Ruben Diaz, a Bronx Democrat who is a clergyman himself. Two of those dealt with distracted driving. The third, however, aimed to give members of the clergy special license plates.

According to the bill's text: "Clergy who are called to visit hospitals, jails, nursing homes or homebound seniors often find it difficult or impossible to park. In order to perform their pastoral duties they need reasonable access to those places. These plates would provide notification to any law enforcement personnel that the car owner is a member of the clergy. The "Clergy" license plate will not enable the holder to violate any local parking or traffic regulations."

To be sure, State Senators introduce bills all the time in Albany, and this kind of thing can happen so frequently that it barely raises eyebrows when it shows up in the Senate calendar, which is where we found it.

But parking policy shapes urban life. We recently wrote about how the state is continuing to issue parking placards, despite the Cuomo administration's promise to end "business as usual." And today the New York Daily News is reporting that an investigation has found widespread parking placard abuse.

So why would Senator Diaz sponsor legislation that would give clergy special license plates -- especially when he himself is a member of the clergy? (Diaz is the founder and pastor of the Christian Community Neighborhood Church in the Bronx.)

According to its website, The New York City Department of Transportation already offers members of the clergy parking permits, which allow parking near houses of worship, hospitals, and funeral homes.

We reached Senator Diaz to ask him about the bill -- and if he thought introducing it might represent a conflict of interest. "Did it pass?" he asked. When told that the bill failed in committee, he said "there's nothing to talk about -- it didn't pass." When pressed about whether he'd introduce it again, he repeated "there's nothing to talk about now," and then said goodbye.

It turns out that the Transportation Committee didn't support the legislation, which failed by a vote of 12 to six (you can see the list of who voted how here) -- because of a pending US district court decision about the New York State Department of Motor Vehicle's moratorium on distinctive license plates.

You can watch a video of part of yesterday's committee meeting below; the legislation about license plates is dealt with at about a minute in.

ATU President Larry Hanley (far left) and US DOT Deputy Secretary John Porcari (far right) address the TEN annual meeting (photo courtesy of TEN)

(Kate Hinds, Transportation Nation) On the day that President Obama formally kicked off his reelection campaign, the amount of work the president has to do to energize his former allies came into stark relief. (More on what the administration is doing further down in this post.)

Speaking at a breakfast at the Transportation Equity Network's annual conference, Amalgamated Transit Union president Larry Hanley ticked off a list of urban transit systems that slashed service during the first two years of Obama's presidency: New York, Detroit, Chicago, Pittsburgh... “This administration was indistinguishable from the prior one with respect to transit operating aid,” said Hanley.  He said he was grateful for the new money budgeted for transit  -- but wanted to know “what can we do…to get the president to recognize publicly that what’s happening to transit is a national crisis and we need collectively to elevate this on the national agenda?”

Seated near him at the dais Deputy Secretary of the US DOT John Porcari responded that the federal government doesn't  control local government decisions.

"When you look at how a transportation reauthorization bill actually gets passed," he said, "it's not from the top down...we are going to push as hard as we can, but it's from the bottom up. It's the mayor, county commissioners, and the governors, articulating their needs."  To fund the bill, he told the crowd of civil rights, union, and transit advocates, "you need to push that and you need to make sure that your elected officials at the local and state level are making that clear to your congressional delegation. That's what brings the bill home."

But what funds the bill is not as clear. Speaking later in the day at the conference's lunchtime event, Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff  said: 

(Kate Hinds, Transportation Nation) The federal Department of Transportation just sent out a press release listing the applicants vying for a piece of Florida's rejected $2.4 billion in high-speed rail funds. More analysis later - but you can read the release below.

Statement of U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood on High-Speed Rail

Washington, DC – U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood issued the following statement today regarding the $2.4 billion available for High-Speed Rail:

“Today, we are another step closer to delivering an innovative, national transportation network that brings new jobs and economic opportunity to the American people. Since I announced the availability of an additional $2.4 billion for high-speed rail projects, governors and members of Congress have been clamoring for the opportunity to participate. That’s because they know that high-speed rail will deliver tens of thousands of jobs, spur economic development across their communities and create additional options for their citizens as the country’s population grows. We have received more than 90 applications from 24 states, the District of Columbia and Amtrak for projects in the Northeast Corridor, with preliminary requests totaling nearly $10 billion dollars. We are extremely pleased to see the bipartisan enthusiasm behind all of the requests to get into the high-speed rail business. Thanks to President Obama’s bold vision for a national high speed rail network, we will win the future for America.”

Additional background:

Showing bi-partisan support for President Obama’s High-Speed Rail program, 24 states, the District of Columbia and Amtrak (for projects in the Northeast Corridor) submitted just under $10 billion in funding requests.

The application period for the $2.4 billion of high-speed rail money closed on April 4.  Now, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) will begin its official review of the applications.  A merit-driven process will be used to award the newly available high-speed rail dollars to projects that can deliver public and economic benefits quickly. A project’s ability to reduce energy consumption, improve the efficiency of a region’s overall transportation network, and generate sustained economic activity along the corridor are among the selection criteria.  At this time, a date for the announcement of project selections has not been determined.  Information about the Notice of Funding Availability can be found here: http://www.fra.dot.gov/rpd/passenger/477.shtml.

President Obama’s vision is to connect 80 percent of Americans to high-speed rail within the next 25 years.  To put America on track towards that goal, the Obama Administration has proposed a six-year, $53 billion plan that will provide rail access to new communities; improve the reliability, speed and frequency of existing lines; and, where it makes economic sense, build new corridors where trains will travel at speeds of up to 250 miles per hour.

The Obama Administration’s investments in high-speed rail are also projected to create hundreds of thousands of good-paying jobs in the United States. Jobs will be created both directly in manufacturing, construction and operation of rail lines, and indirectly, as the result of economic developments along rail corridors.

A “Buy America” requirement for high-speed rail projects also ensures that U.S. manufacturers and workers will receive the maximum economic benefits from this federal investment. And, in 2009, Secretary LaHood secured a commitment from 30 foreign and domestic rail manufacturers to employ American workers and locate or expand their base of operations in the U.S. if they are selected for high-speed-rail contracts.