An expert in infrastructure financing and former member of the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District has been elected to head the California High Speed Rail Authority. Dan Richard of Piedmont has been tapped to chair the authority, which faces withering criticism from mostly Republican critics who say the $98 billion price tag is…
House Republicans rolled out parts of a $260 billion transportation infrastructure bill Tuesday, casting the legislation as a major vehicle for job creation and energy production. The five-year bill reauthorizes highway, transit and safety programs but also eliminates or consolidates dozens of existing federal functions. Supporters said its designed to streamline federally-funded projects, cut bureaucratic…
State Senator Doug LaMalfa (R-Richvale) introduced legislation today that would put high-speed rail back on the November ballot in California. The measure would give voters the chance to de-authorize the $9 billion bond measure passed in 2008. According to Mark Spannagel, spokesman for Senator LaMalfa, the measure would “eliminate the project.” In a statement, LaMalfa…
The U.S. Transportation Secretary, Ray LaHood, still wants to connect 80 percent of Americans to high speed rail by 2036. That’s the goal that President Barack Obama laid out in last year’s state of the union. But since then, the governors of Florida and Ohio followed Wisconsin’s governor in halting their states’ projects, and congress…
KQED in Northern California takes stock of high-speed rail in California. As we reported last week, the California High Speed Rail Authority just lost several key leaders and is coming under increasing criticism, while Governor Jerry Brown is steadfast in his support for the idea of bullet trains from San Francisco to Los Angeles, he’s…
President Obama began 2011 arguing in lofty terms for building 21st century infrastructure. He ended it pleading for the maintenance of our 20th century roads and bridges. Transportation Nation analyzed the number of times he mentioned various infrastructure-related words over the course of the year. As the chart shows, he shifted from regularly mentioning ambitious,…
In his State of the State address, Governor Jerry Brown offered a full-throated defense of the state’s embattled high-speed rail plan. “Those who believe California is in decline will naturally shrink back from such a strenuous undertaking,” he said. “I understand that feeling, but I don’t share it.”
From the the White House: Today, the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) announced a pilot project aimed at expediting the environmental reviews for high-speed passenger rail service in the Northeast Corridor through an innovative and more efficient process. Through this pilot project, CEQ and DOT will…
Nothing startling here, but U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand gave her most extensive remarks that I’m aware of on a national infrastructure bank today. “This is a basic public private partnership that cuts government spending as it takes pressure off state and local government and pressure off our property taxes to do some of these long-term,…
It’s been a difficult season for California High Speed Rail. A budget revision that put the total price tab ominously close to $100 billion. Two congressional hearings pillorying the project. Lots of noise by legislators positioning themselves against the project. Now comes word the man in charge of California’s high-speed rail project has resigned,…
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equitable and sustainable development in communities across the country. More at rockfound.org.
