High-speed Rail Like Acela is Key to Growth

Reuters reports that it's unlikely that an infrastructure bank will be created any time soon, and Globe St discusses the Amtrak Acela. Read more in this Infrastructure in the News.

National News

Reuters: GE CEO sees no appetite for US infrastructure bank
Prospects are slim due to high deficits that the U.S. government will create a financing arm to underwrite big-ticket infrastructure projects, the chief executive of General Electric Co said on Wednesday.

For Construction Pros: Mica to Hold Hearings on Next Highway Bill
The new transportation and Infrastructure chairman wants regional input before drafting next multi-year bill. In February, Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., intends to start a process that will help his panel craft a new multi-year surface transportation bill.

DOT Blog: Passenger rail investments add needed capacity to America's transportation infrastructure
If President Eisenhower had waited until he had all the cash on hand, all the lines drawn on a map, and all the naysayers on board, America would not boast the state-of-the-art interstate highway system we have today. That’s why I was so disappointed to read the Washington Post’s editorial criticizing California’s high-speed rail plan.

Globe St: High-Speed Rail Called Key to Long-Term Growth
Already home to the nation’s only high-speed rail line, Amtrak’s Acela, the Northeast “megaregion” ranks high in parameters for determining where future HSR investment should be focused. So says a new report from the America 2050 initiative, headquartered here.

State News

Tampa Bay Business Journal: High-speed rail coalition formed
Associated Industries of Florida is putting together a Florida High Speed Rail Coalition that will include the private-sector companies pursuing rail-related work.

Los Angeles Times: Orange County's planned mega transit center questioned
Long-planned ARTIC mega transit center is supposed to be funded through a county sales tax measure and has ties to California's uncertain high-speed rail project.

Leesburg Today: State May Pony Up for Road Partnerships
Discussions between the county and state representatives have given some supervisors new hope for a funding deal that could advance the county's two top transportation construction projects as part of Gov. Bob McDonnell's goal of making targeted infrastructure investments.

Land Line Magazine: Nebraska lawmakers urged to act now to fund roads
Enough is enough for a leading Nebraska state lawmaker. The chairwoman of the Legislature’s Transportation and Telecommunications Committee is calling on lawmakers to act now to address the state’s highway funding shortfall.

Streetsblog Capitol Hill: Twin Cities Rein in Highway Expansions, Tame Runaway Transpo Spending
Like many communities throughout the country, Minneapolis-St. Paul is moving beyond the decades-old assumption that the only way to eliminate congestion is with more outward-stretching asphalt. This fall, officials in the Twin C