Infrastructure in the News: March 1, 2011

The Wall Street Journal reports that Americans want more investment in their highways, but then don't want to raise the gas tax to make it happen. Meanwhile, the chief economist of the World Bank, Justin Lin, says the US needs to invest in infrastructure. Read more in this Infrastructure in the News.

National News

Wall Street Journal: Poll: Yes on Highway Spending, No on Higher Gas Tax to Fund It
Most Americans support more investment in highways, bridges and transit systems but are solidly opposed to raising the national gasoline tax as a funding option, according to a national survey released by the Rockefeller Foundation.

BusinessWeek: World Bank's Lin Says U.S. Needs to Invest in Infrastructure
The U.S. and other developed countries can stoke growth and reduce excess industrial capacity by investing in infrastructure at home and in potential consumer nations abroad, the World Bank’s chief economist, Justin Lin, said in New York today.

New York Times: Regulation Lax as Gas Wells’ Tainted Water Hits Rivers
So energy companies are clamoring to drill. And they are getting rare support from their usual sparring partners. Environmentalists say using natural gas will help slow climate change because it burns more cleanly than coal and oil. Lawmakers hail the gas as a source of jobs. They also see it as a way to wean the United States from its dependency on other countries for oil.

Infrastructurist: Public Poll Shows Bipartisan Support for Public Rail Funding
As transportation minds over at the National Journal continue to debate the cancellation of Florida’s high-speed rail project — which, strictly speaking, remains on life support — the rest of the country remains largely in the dark about fast trains. A new Harris Poll of more than 2,500 Americans found that only 35 percent of respondents who lived in states with prospective high-speed rail projects were aware that a bullet line had been proposed or was being developed in their state. One in five believed that no such program existed.

Transportation Nation: President Obama To Governors: I Know Infrastructure Projects Have Been Controversial
His remarks are the first time the President has directly addressed infrastructure since Governor Rick Scott of Florida said he’d kill the high speed rail project there. (Scott is now considering reversing his decision.)

Transportation Nation: Senators to Florida: You Gonna Eat Those HSR Funds?
And I’m not the only one who holds these controversial views. Ten Democratic Senators from the northeast sent a letter to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood on Friday asking that $2.4 million in high speed rail funds semi-rejected by Florida Governor Rick Scott (R) be redirected to their states. In other words, if Florida won’t eat it, they will.

Streetsblog Capitol Hill: Transportation 101: Cliff's Notes for the Reauthorization Debate
A few weeks ago, I put together a little cheat sheet listing the last three transportation reauthorization bills, their dates of passage, and the dollar amounts. It helped me save some time I would have spent Googling.

Streetsblog Capitol Hill: AASHTO: Government Shutdown Could Cost Transportation Sector $100M/Day
If the House, Senate, and President Obama don’t agree on a course of action by the end of this week, the U.S. will be left with no federal budget, and the government will shut down. Transit agencies and construction interests don’t seem alarmed, but the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials estimates that a government shutdown would stop $100 million in transportation dollars a day from flowing into the national economy.

The Boston Globe: Kerry: Fast-track rail funds to northeast
Senator John Kerry hopes that Florida’s decision to put the brakes on a high-speed rail project will be just the ticket for passenger rail in Massachusetts and other northeastern states.

Market Wire: High Speed Rail Industry to Reach $907 Billion by 2015
The move for high-speed rail in the U.S. will create or save tens of thousands of jobs in areas like track-laying, manufacturing, planning and engineering, and rail maintenance and operations. Over 30 rail manufacturers, both domestic and foreign, have agreed to establish or expand their base of operations in the U.S. if they are hired to build the country's next generation HSR lines -- a commitment the Obama Administration secured to help ensure new jobs are created in the U.S.

Grist: How bicycling will save the economy (if we let it)
Car-centric conditions don't always make it easy to choose the bicycle. Communities designed exclusively for motor vehicles impose a major financial penalty on those who are compelled to take on the expense of driving. But if you're one of those who lives in a bike-friendlier place, you'll be doing your local business community a good turn and padding Uncle Sam's pockets as well as your own if you trade four wheels for two.

Rail.co: Ray LaHood Statement on High-Speed Agreement in Washington
Following USA Vice President Joe Biden’s announcement on plans for a high-speed rail, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood issued the following statement:

Flight Global: US industrial future is aviation
Clearly with an eye to the rocketing prospects for business and general aviation in China in particular - and Asia in general - where the surface transport infrastructure is relatively underdeveloped, Bolen pointed out: "Looking to the future, it's important that our industry give unified focus to these priorities, because all segments of the aviation industry depend on one another.

Yahoo! News: Obama Wants High-Speed Railroads and High-Speed Space Ships
President Barack Obama has a fascination with building transportation infrastructure. This fascination has led to expensive programs to build not only high-speed railroads, but also what are called commercial spaceships. Both have a certain romance about them, railroads from the past, space ships toward the future.

The Point News: Obama's High-Speed Rail Plan Necessary for U.S. Progress
President Obama recently unveiled a 53 billion dollar plan to make high-speed rail (trains that go faster than 250 miles an hour) accessible to 80 percent of Americans within the next twenty-five years.

Booz Allen Hamilton Release: Booz Allen Wins U.S. Department of Transportation Contract to Support Intelligent Transportation Efforts
Booz Allen Hamilton  announced it has won a contract to help the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) enhance intelligent transportation systems, such as those that allow vehicles, infrastructure, and passengers' personal communications devices to communicate.

State News

California High Speed Rail Blog: California High Speed Rail Authority to Extend EIR Timeline
With the selection late last year of the Central Valley high speed rail segment as the first part of the LA-SF project to be built, it eased the pressure on the other stimulus-eligible segments to have their planning processes be done in time for the September 2012 stimulus deadline. Today the California High Speed Rail Authority announced that it will extend the EIR Timeline for the LA-Anaheim, SF-San José, Merced-Fresno and Fresno-Bakersfield segments:

DOT Blog: Sahara Express Bus Rapid Transit line means more jobs for Las Vegas
Last Thursday, Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff joined Nevada Senator Harry Reid and others to break ground on the Sahara Express Bus Rapid Transit line in Las Vegas.

Las Vegas Sun: Development of state rail plan moves forward with public meeting
The Nevada Department of Transportation on Monday took its first step toward developing a state rail plan that, when completed, would make Nevada eligible for future federal railroad funding.

Washington Post: Transit group seeks MARC changes
Transit advocates are seeking an overhaul to the commuter train service offered by the Maryland Transit Administration from Washington to Frederick and Brunswick, Md.