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Managed by Paul J. Loftus, a partner at Dinsmore & Shohl LLP, Transportation Law Today provides professionals in the rail, transit, inland maritime, and trucking industries with current news and analysis of laws, rulings, and regulatory policies.



Tuesday, November 8, 2011

DOT Urges High Speed Rail - California Shows Sticker Shock

As Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood continues to promote the economic impact of high speed rail projects, California officials face sticker-shock as the cost of their proposed high-speed rail network balloon to $98.5 billion (yep, with a "b").

In his "Fast Lane" blog post today, Secretary LaHood extols the impact of high speed rail on the creation of jobs and the economy in general. As detailed in the blog post, LaHood was addressing the U.S. High Speed Rail Association (USHSR) meeting concluding today. Citing the construction of the Hoover Dam and the Golden Gate Bridge during the Great Depression, LaHood urged the passage of the transportation portions of the President's American Job Act.

Acknowledging the less than shovel-ready aspect of high-speed rail projects, LaHood compared the rail project to work on the interstate highway system, when "we didn't know where all the routes were to going to be drawn on the map" or "where every dollar of funding was going to come from."

Meanwhile, the cost of high-speed rail is front and center in California. California was the recipient of federal funds initially set aside for other states, such as Ohio and Florida, where high speed rail projects stalled over cost concerns.

Segmented construction may be where California's ambitious high-speed network is headed. This ABC News report by Juliet Williams details the expanding cost of the California projects. The California rail authority is proposing breaking the project into smaller projects, in part because of lack of funding for the entire project.

1 comment:

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