Category: High-Speed Rail

Categories
California Policy Cap and Trade GHG Reduction High-Speed Rail State Policy Sustainability Transportation Funding

Governor Signs Plan to Spend $1.5B in Cap-and-Trade Dollars

Clean Transportation Receives $900 Million from Cap-and-Trade Revenue 

California Governor Jerry Brown has signed two bills that outline a plan to spend $1.5 billion on environmental initiatives using money from the state’s recently renewed cap and trade program.  The bills were signed on Saturday, hours after lawmakers approved the plan to spend most of the money on incentives and rebates to promote a cleaner vehicle fleet.

$900 Million of the funds will be allocated to clean transportation projects – a substantial increase compared to previous years ($680 million for the last four years combined)

This amount is on top of the $900 million allocated according to formula, including $375 million for the State High-Speed Rail Project.

California has set an ambitious goal to have 1.5 million zero-emission vehicles on the road by 2025. Lawmakers hope the rebates will help close the price gap between traditional and electric vehicles.

Here is a breakdown of how the Low Carbon Transportation funds will be spent: 

  • $140M – Clean Vehicle Rebate Project (consumer rebates for electric or fuel cell passenger cars) 
  • $140M – Freight Equipment Advanced Demonstration; Pilot Commercial Deployment Project
  • $100M – Enhanced Fleet Modernization Program and Plus Up Project (low-income assistance for vehicle scrap and replace); School Buses; Light-Duty Equity Pilot Projects (e.g. electric carsharing in disadvantaged communities)
  • $180M – Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project ($35M must go to zero-emission buses)
  • $85M – Agricultural Diesel Engine Replacement and Upgrades 

Additionally, $255 Million will be allocated for AB 617 Implementation:

  • $250M – Community Air Protection (95% to South Coast, San Joaquin Valley, and Bay Area Air Districts; 5% to other Air Districts via CARB) 
  • $5M – Technical Assistance Grants to Community Organizations (i.e. consultants/experts) 

   

____________________________________________________
Lauren Michele, Principal / Founder, Policy in Motion
 
Policy in Motion offers planning practitioners, policymakers, and public agencies an understanding of how to integrate sustainability policy into transportation infrastructure and land use decisions. Lauren Michele’s 2011 book, “Policy in Motion: Transportation Planning in California after AB 32” explores the State’s evolving policies for sustainable living through transportation planning. Lauren’s 2012 film documentary, “Policy in Motion: Growing Beautiful Communities” continues to explore how an integrated approach to transportation planning and funding based on “People-Oriented Development” (POD) can improve community quality of life while meeting California’s environmental and economic goals. Policy in Motion’s book and film are available for purchase online at Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and www.policyinmotion.com.
Categories
California Policy Complete Streets Federal Policy GHG Reduction High-Speed Rail Livable Communities Metropolitan Planning Public Health Public Transit Safe Routes to School SB 375 State Policy Sustainability Transportation Funding

Transportation Funding: Past, Present, Future

Funding Beautiful Communities

The nature of transportation funding is a cycle of birth and death. Despite clear state policy goals to address the transportation sector’s 38% contribution to California’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions inventory, funding for needed sustainable community investments to implement such goals has seen levels of uncertainty that make progress equally uncertain. From years of local public transit cuts and underfunded local road maintenance needs to recent slashes for complete streets and Safe Routes to School in the federal transportation bill – hope still prevails with billions approved by the State for high speed rail, possibilities for redevelopment reincarnation, and the promise of new cap and trade revenue from fuels. California not only has opportunities like leveraging its investments in high speed rail with cap and trade funding for sustainable communities, but will need to act on them given the dismal federal transportation reauthorization vision for integrated transportation and land use systems.

But it’s not all dismal!

On August 10th Growing Beautiful Communities will depict how an integrated approach to transportation planning and funding can improve community quality of life while meeting California’s environmental and economic goals.

Uncertainty can breed creativity. I made a documentary on that premise. California can make history. The State can leverage the lack of federal vision to do something really innovative for transportation funding in California – the same way the lack of federal GHG reduction leadership led to state climate action plans across the country starting here.

California has the potential to capitalize on its $8 billion investment in high speed rail and do everything the federal transportation bill is missing for transformative transportation — we can achieve a vision for sustainable communities and reduced greenhouse gas emissions through the creation of an integrated transportation funding program which:

  • Draws on a new source of transportation revenues, offering multi-year financial stability to communities and regions implementing projects
  • Creates flexibility to use funds for needed transit operations and maintenance investments
  • Provides funding for road and bridge repair to improve transportation efficiency
  • Expands active transportation, complete streets and transportation enhancement infrastructure
  • Incentivizes transportation innovation from regional and local governments
  • Measures meaningful performance to tie transportation investments to GHG emission reduction, as well as other benefits like health, energy, water, cost-effectiveness, and agricultural resources.
  • Integrates intercity, rural, and local transit, roads, and active transportation infrastructure with regional land use planning and local project implementation
  • Invests in existing communities by offsetting the high cost of infill development
  • Promotes inter- and intra-jurisdictional collaboration between institutions like local/regional planning departments and school and medical campuses

We can learn from the past, capitalize on the present, and make the future a reality through innovative transportation funding.

Categories
California Policy Education/Webinars GHG Reduction High-Speed Rail Metropolitan Planning NewsFlash SB 375 Transportation Funding

Caltrans Report Released Today with California Interregional Blueprint Summit :: Joined by BT&H, HSR, CTC, CARB, MPO Leaders

With today’s release of the California Interregional Blueprint Draft Interim Report (CIB), hundreds of participants from across the state gathered to hear two of Governor Brown’s most recent appointees as well as other regional and state transportation leaders – echoing the need for innovative funding and strategies to support integrated transportation solutions.

Caltrans Director Malcolm Dougherty welcomed Acting Secretary Brian Kelly from the Business, Housing and Transportation Agency who opened the event tying the CIB to Senate Bill 375 and how Senate Bill 391 is now bringing the “regional revolution up to the state” by focusing the future on investing in a multimodal transportation system to create better communities while working toward the goals of AB 32.

The first panel discussed new tools, partnerships and integrated approaches to transportation – ranging from new investments in active transportation and transit to freight and system efficiency all working together to create an integrated transportation system. Directors from SANDAG and SCAG were asked to respond to how the state can support regional SB 375 efforts. Reinforcing the positive relationship that has been built between the state and the MPOs, the Directors noted several areas for additional support including:

  • Implementing and funding Sustainable Community Strategies
  • Streamlining project delivery
  • Creating sustainable forms of funding sources
  • Exploring public-private partnerships
  • Funding for the existing transportation system for maintenance and operations
  • Integrating school planning into transportation
  • Supporting high-speed rail with local roads, transit and land use
  • Providing a coordinated voice across state agencies
  • Standardizing simple performance measures statewide for local and regional investments

The second panel was led by Bimla Rhinehart, Executive Director of the California Transportation Commission, with a focus on the next steps for the State given the billions of dollars needed to bring the existing transportation system up to preservation alone. Brian Annis, Deputy Secretary for Business, Housing and Transportation Agency, noted that we can leverage investments in both high-speed rail and other strategies like supporting local transportation by integrating our whole system. Reinforcing the theme of integrated approaches, Tim Schott, Executive Director for the California Association of Port Authorities, recommended a blended funding system for a blended transportation system. Considering key performance measures like location efficiency/land use, social equity, health, and safety for not just motorists but bicyclists and pedestrians was also encouraged. Finally, Dan Richard, Chair of the California High Speed Rail Commission, reinforce the need to integrate high-speed rail into local and regional infrastructure while also explaining the importance of engaging the public and media in “ribbon cutting” for important maintenance and operational improvements on our existing system.

Overall the theme was we must integrate our transportation system to maximize not only greenhouse gas emissions but other important performance measures – and we must think with innovation and leadership to find and leverage new integrated funding sources.

_________________________________________

Senate Bill (SB) 391 ushered in a new era for statewide transportation planning in California. Among its many provisions, SB 391 directs Caltrans to prepare a new California Transportation Plan (CTP) by the end of 2015. This 2015 CTP will demonstrate how major metropolitan areas, rural areas, and state agencies can coordinate planning efforts to achieve critical statewide goals such as supporting greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets established pursuant to Assembly Bill (AB) 32 and SB 375.

The California Interregional Blueprint (CIB) is a strategic framework that links statewide transportation goals with regional transportation and land use goals to produce a unified transportation strategy. This CIB Interim Report lays the groundwork for the 2015 CTP by summarizing regional efforts with respect to transportation-related GHG reduction, and the potential influence of these regional efforts on the statewide transportation system.

 

Categories
California Policy Education/Webinars GHG Reduction High-Speed Rail Metropolitan Planning NewsFlash SB 375 State Policy

California Interregional Blueprint Summit May 23 to Host Governor Appointees and Directors: BT&H Acting Secretary Brian Kelly; HSR Chair Dan Richard; Directors of Caltrans, SCAG, SANDAG, CARB

Come see two of Governor Brown’s most recent appointees speak at the California Interregional Blueprint (CIB) Summit: Brian Kelly, Acting Secretary, Business, Housing and Transportation Agency, and Malcolm Dougherty, Director, Caltans.  If you have not registered for the Summit yet, please do so today!  Join us in-person in Sacramento, or on the Web, and help shape California’s future transportation system.

California Interregional Blueprint (CIB) Summit May 23, 2012 8:00 AM – 10:30 AM* CalPERS Auditorium, 400 P Street, Sacramento, CA

Seating is limited so register today at: http://bit.ly/CIBSummit

Caltrans is sponsoring the CIB Summit to share critical information about the long-term future of California’s transportation system and receive valuable feedback from you.  Take this opportunity to speak with representatives from State agencies, metropolitan planning organizations, regional transportation planning agencies, and the private sector.

Business Transportation and Housing Agency Acting Secretary Brian Kelly will share Governor Brown’s perspective as the Summit’s keyone speaker.

Leaders from key regional and State agencies scheduled to participate in panel discussions are:

  • Gary Gallegos, Executive Director, San Diego Association of Governments
  • Hasan Ikhrata, Executive Director, Southern California Association of Governments
  • James Goldstene, Executive Officer, California Air Resources Board
  • Sharon Scherzinger, Executive Director, El Dorado County Transportation Commission
  • Malcolm Dougherty, Director, Caltrans
  • Dan Richard, Chair, California High Speed Rail Commission
  • Tim Schott, Executive Director, California Association of Port Authorities

Complete details on the Summit and the California Interregional Blueprint process are available on the Caltrans Web Site:

http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/tpp/californiainterregionalblueprint/summit.html

After registering, you’ll receive a confirmation email with directions to the workshop.  If you have questions, email Caroline Leary, Cambridge Systematics, at cleary@camsys.com or call her at 510-873-8700 (voice) or

711 (TTY). If you need physical accommodations or other assistance, please contact Caroline as soon as possible, but no later than two working days before the Summit.

Categories
California Policy High-Speed Rail NewsFlash

CALIFORNIA HIGH-SPEED RAIL RELEASES NEW BUSINESS PLAN

Voter-Approved System Will Create 100,000 Jobs in Next 5 Years, More Than 1 Million Jobs Over Life of Project

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Nov. 1, 2011 CONTACT: Rachel Wall, 916-384-9026

 

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The California High-Speed Rail Authority today released a new business plan that lays the foundation for an economically viable high speed rail system that will create 100,000 jobs in the next five years, and is expected to generate another 1 million jobs moving forward.  California’s high speed rail system, the first in the nation, is also expected to reduce carbon emissions by 3 million tons annually.

The new business plan describes a phased approach to construction that will allow the Authority to adapt to changing financial conditions as it moves forward, segment by segment. The plan also updates cost estimates, ridership figures and funding expectations to reflect current economic realities. The result is a fiscally sound project that will attract and drive private investment, generate strong revenues and operate without any public subsidies, just as other high speed rail networks do throughout the world.

“We have carefully constructed a business plan that is mindful of the economic and budgetary constraints facing both the state and the nation,” said Authority Board Chairman Thomas J. Umberg. “It will deliver to California and Californians a cost-effective, efficient, and sensible alternative to more highways and increased airport congestion.”

As the state’s population grows from 38 million people today to 60 million people by mid-century, it is estimated that without high speed rail California will need as much as $171 billion to meet its transportation needs.  That means an additional 2,300 lane-miles of highways, 4 runways, and 115 airline gates will need to be built.

California’s high speed rail system will also be better for the environment than auto and air travel. The system is expected to reduce carbon emissions by more than 3 million tons annually and save Californians 146 million hours in travel time each year.

Construction will begin next year with a 130-mile segment stretching from just north of Bakersfield to just south of Merced. The funding for this piece, which will serve as the “backbone” of the system, has already been identified through federal funds and the voter-approved Proposition 1A. This initial Central Valley section is expected to create 100,000 jobs in the next five years.

Board members, including new gubernatorial appointees Dan Richard and Mike Rossi, brought a seasoned business perspective to developing the plan, which outlines the future of the largest infrastructure project underway in the United States.

“Our role was to incorporate a business perspective into the plan to prove that it is financially viable,” Richard said. “What we present today is the culmination of a lot of sweat and hard work to ensure that taxpayers are getting the best bang for the buck.”

“After conducting an in-depth analysis I am convinced that this is an open and balanced business plan,” said Rossi. “This is a current, realistic and transparent plan and identifies the funds and financing necessary to implement high-speed rail in California.”

Authority Board Member Jim Hartnett praised the plan as “a new direction, reflecting community input, focusing on the concerns of local and regional rail systems as a partner in a blended approach.”

“Taking advantage of existing infrastructure will be cost-effective and reflect the coordination needed to implement this critically important infrastructure project,” Hartnett said.

Each segment of the construction project will have its own value and independent utility, and depending upon the availability of funding, each segment will complement the previous one while augmenting existing local and regional rail networks in a cooperative and coordinated fashion. Regional rail systems in Los Angeles and San Francisco have been receptive to the idea of blending existing services with the new system.

Additionally, no public operating subsidy will be necessary for the rail system. Like successful systems around the world, California’s high speed rail system will initially be built with public sector funds and when the system is operational ridership will drive revenues that, in turn, will attract further private-sector investment.

To protect the taxpayers’ investment, the economic assumptions including inflation, cost of materials and ridership projections, included in this plan are realistic and conservative. The ridership projections have been rigorously tested by a peer-review panel of international experts.

High-speed rail officials were accompanied in releasing the new Business Plan by transportations stakeholders, including ACE Executive Director Stacey Mortensen and Mike Scanlon, who leads the San Mateo County Transit District (SamTrans), Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board, which owns and manages Caltrain, and the San Mateo County Transportation Authority.

The new business plan is available online on the High-Speed Rail Authority’s website. The public will have 60 days to comment and help shape the final plan, which will be completed and provided to the Legislature in January 2012.

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Categories
Federal Policy High-Speed Rail NewsFlash Transportation Funding US DOT

Reconnecting America: Federal Funding Compromise Preserves Partnership for Sustainable Communities, Reduces FTA New Starts, Eliminates Rail Programs

For Immediate Release
Contact Rebecca M. (Becky) Sullivan
Communications Director
(w) 202-429-6990, ext. 206
(c) 202-412-5573
bsullivan@reconnectingamerica.org
April 12, 2011

STATEMENT ON CONTINUING RESOLUTION
BY RECONNECTING AMERICA PRESIDENT & CEO JOHN ROBERT SMITH

(April 12, 2011) The recently announced compromise to fund the federal government through the remainder of FY2011 preserves several critical programs, but also raises cause for concern. Reconnecting America is pleased to see that the compromise continues to support the Partnership for Sustainable Communities, which is effectively coordinating federal housing and transportation programs to provide the greatest benefits at the regional and local levels. Programs such as DOT’s TIGER grants and HUD’s Sustainable Communities grants will save taxpayer dollars over the long-term by helping communities make better investments today.

However, the reduction in the Federal Transit Administration’s New Starts/Small Starts program and the complete elimination of the High-Speed and Intercity Passenger Rail program in FY 2011 is a step in the wrong direction. In this era of $4-a-gallon gas, Americans need more transportation options, not fewer. In a report to be released tomorrow, Reconnecting America has found that the pent-up capital demand for fixed guideway transit, whose major federal source of funding is New Starts/Small Starts, is at least $233 billion and at current levels it would take 73 years to fund the backlog of transit projects being planned by communities all around America. (See graphic at right.)

These programs support communities’ efforts to connect people to jobs, to school, to health care. They are creating jobs today, and are helping to build a better future for our children and grandchildren. Reducing support for these programs is short-sighted and ultimately will set us back in our efforts to create stronger and more economically-resilient communities where Americans of all income ranges can afford to live, work, and play.

Reconnecting America’s work across the country has demonstrated the transformative power that investing in infrastructure can have on the economy, sustainability, and quality of life in our communities. Continued investment in transportation options is essential to allow our nation to realize its full potential.

# # #

Reconnecting America is a national nonprofit that is helping to transform promising ideas into thriving communities – where transportation choices make it easy to get from place to place, where businesses flourish, and where people from all walks of life can afford to live, work and visit. Reconnecting America is the managing partner of the Center for Transit-Oriented Development, the only national nonprofit effort funded by Congress to promote best practices in transit-oriented development. Reconnecting America is also a founding partner of Transportation for America, a broad coalition of housing, environmental, equal opportunity, public health, urban planning, transportation and other organizations focused on creating a 21st century national transportation program. For more information visit our website, www.reconnectingamerica.org

Categories
Federal Policy High-Speed Rail Public Transit Transportation Funding

Obama Spreads Valentine Love to Transportation with $556B Proposal: Infrastructure Bank, Livability Grants, Doubling Transit Funds

In his 2012 fiscal year budget released on Feb. 14, President Barack Obama proposed a six-year $556 billion surface transportation package. The amount represents a substantial increase in transportation funding and includes an immediate $50 billion cash infusion to create jobs, a proposed national infrastructure bank, and a heavy emphasis on expanding high-speed rail.

The $556 billion dollar proposal is nearly double the $285 billion package authorized in SAFETEA-LU, the last highway bill, which expired in September 2009. Legislation to establish a new, multi-year investment highway blueprint has languished in Congress for the past two years.

The budget includes a new FHWA livability grant program totaling $4.1 billion next year and $28 billion over six years. It specifically targets multi-modal transportation hubs and bike/ped/transit access, and formally embraces a “fix-it-first” approach for highways and transit.

The budget also includes $32 billion in competitive grants to encourage states to adopt safety and livability reforms, as well as $119 billion for transit over the next six years — about double the amount set aside for transit each year under the previous transportation bill.

The White House has released a fact sheet on the transportation provisions in the President’s budget. [PDF]

  • Provides $13.4 billion in discretionary resources in 2012, a $1.3 billion decrease from 2010 levels. (This figure excludes $109 billion in obligation limitations for the surface transportation plan. Including surface transportation obligation limitations, Department of Transportation’s total budgetary resources increase by $53 billion over 2010.)
  • Includes a six-year, $556 billion surface reauthorization plan to modernize the country’s surface transportation infrastructure, create jobs, and pave the way for long-term economic growth. The President will work with the Congress to ensure that the plan will not increase the deficit.
  • Jump-starts productive investment and stimulates job growth with a first-year funding boost of $50 billion in 2012.
  • Provides $8 billion in 2012 and $53 billion over six years to reach the President’s goal of providing 80 percent of Americans with convenient access to a passenger rail system, featuring high-speed service, within 25 years.
  • Includes $30 billion over six years for a pioneering National Infrastructure Bank to invest in projects of regional or national significance to the economy.
  • Continues to invest in the Next Generation Air Transportation System—a revolutionary modernization of our aviation system.
  • Initiates Transportation Leadership Awards to create incentives for State and local partners to pursue critical transportation policy reforms.
  • Reduces funding for Airport Grants, focusing Federal support on smaller airports, while giving larger airports additional flexibility to raise their own resources.
Categories
California Policy High-Speed Rail NewsFlash Public Transit Transportation Funding

High-Speed Rail Commits $30 Million Investment to Southern California

SACRAMENTO – The California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) has taken a major step forward in its work to build a truly statewide system with its announcement today that more than $30 million in federal funding will be set aside for property acquisition and railway development in the Los Angeles area.

The announcement follows several weeks of discussions with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), which is the funding agent, and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro), which has been a planning partner with the CHSRA in Los Angeles County.

This money is included in the recent grant agreement with the FRA outlining the use of federal funds under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The grant agreement also includes $500,000 each for station design in Merced and Bakersfield and $4.5 million total for station area planning in Fresno, Visalia/Kings, Bakersfield, Merced, Palmdale, Gilroy and San Jose, among others.

The specific use of the funds is still being determined. However, officials from both the CHSRA and Metro indicate that some of the funds dedicated to Southern California may be used to acquire the Los Angeles Union Station property – the region’s primary transportation hub, where three high-speed rail segments will converge.

Using the funds to acquire the L.A. Union Station site creates independent benefit for existing transportation entities in the region. An L.A. Union Station revamp would improve operations and service for Metro light rail, Amtrak, Metrolink and the Metro bus system. An L.A. Union Station revamp would improve operations and service for Metro light rail, Amtrak, Metrolink and the Metro bus system.

“Even as we plan to begin construction in the Central Valley – the backbone of a statewide system – we must also steer startup funding in urban areas like L.A. to ensure that regional agencies can begin to set the stage for the arrival of high-speed rail while also benefitting existing infrastructure,” said Roelof van Ark, CEO of the California High-Speed Rail Authority.

“Metro is thrilled to learn of the California High-Speed Rail Authority’s intent to invest newly acquired federal funds into Southern California,” said L.A County Supervisor and Metro Board Chair Don Knabe. “Metro looks forward to working closely with the High-Speed Rail Authority to make the kind of investments that will be beneficial to both agencies as we build a 21st Century transportation network that will give L.A. County travelers a welcome alternative to traffic and rising gas prices.”

This infusion of funding will create immediate benefits in the Southern California region; however, the design and environmental impact review process being undertaken by the CHSRA is still underway. Design and environmental engineering teams have been engaged since 2007 with local communities and transportation agencies to design three segments in Southern California: Palmdale-Los Angeles, Los Angeles-Anaheim, and Los Angeles-San Diego, via the Inland Empire. That process is still underway, with Environmental Impact Reports yet to be released.

“This infusion of funds in Southern California is an exciting reminder of the benefits the high-speed rail project provides, even before construction is complete,” said Tom Umberg, vice chairman of the CHSRA Board. “In addition to creating a safe, efficient and fast alternative for travel within our state, we expect to create 600,000 construction-related jobs over the life of the project, and 450,000 new, permanent jobs once the entire system is built. There’s no question HSR will turn this initial investment into immediate benefits for the region and for the state.”

The California High-Speed Rail Authority is developing an 800-mile high-speed train system that will operate at speeds of up to 220 miles per hour, connecting the state’s urban centers, including the Bay Area, Fresno, Los Angeles and San Diego. The first phase of the project, projected to cost about $43 billion, will begin operation once the first operable segment (150-200 miles) is built, connecting the system to at least one major metropolitan center. The project is being funded through a voter-approved bond, public-private partnerships and federal grants.

California has already secured more than $3 billion in federal funding, the most of any state in the nation and a welcome step toward a long-term federal commitment. This incorporates grants under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, as well as federal grants from other sources. Matched with varying levels of state funds, these dollars mean that more than $5.5 billion total is available to begin work on California’s high-speed rail system.

The federal grant agreement and other documents outlining the ARRA funds are available on the California High-Speed Rail Authority’s website. Another grant agreement pertaining to the High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail Program FY 2010 funds, also to be directed to the Central Valley, is forthcoming.

Categories
California Policy Federal Policy High-Speed Rail NewsFlash Transportation Funding US DOT

US DOT: $1.2B in High Speed Rail Funds Redirected ~ CA Gains $624M

DOT 208-10
Thursday, December 09, 2010
Contact: Olivia Alair
Tel: (202) 366-4570

U.S. Department of Transportation Redirects $1.195 Billion in High-Speed Rail Funds

WASHINGTON – U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today announced that $1.195 billion in high-speed rail funds originally designated for Wisconsin and Ohio will be redirected to other states eager to develop high-speed rail corridors across the United States. Wisconsin has suspended work under its existing high-speed rail agreement and the incoming Governors in Wisconsin and Ohio have both indicated that they will not move forward to use high-speed rail money received under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).  As a result, $1.195 billion will be redirected to high-speed rail projects already underway in other states.

“High-speed rail will modernize America’s valuable transportation network, while reinvigorating the manufacturing sector and putting people back to work in good-paying jobs,” said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “I am pleased that so many other states are enthusiastic about the additional support they are receiving to help bring America’s high-speed rail network to life.”

The Recovery Act included $8 billion to launch a national high-speed rail program that will modernize America’s transportation network, spur economic development domestically and keep the U.S. competitive with other leading nations. High-speed rail grants announced under the Recovery Act can be used only for high-speed rail projects and not for other transportation projects.

Last year, the Obama Administration received a commitment from 30 domestic and foreign rail manufacturers to establish or expand their base of operations in the United States if selected for contracts building America’s high-speed rail network. These rail manufacturers and suppliers committed to not only locate in the U.S., but to ensure high-speed rail projects are built by American workers with American-made supplies. To deliver maximum economic benefits to American taxpayers, the Administration’s high-speed rail program also includes a 100 percent ‘Buy American’ requirement.

Under the Recovery Act, the Federal Railroad Administration originally announced $810 million for Wisconsin’s Milwaukee-Madison corridor and $400 million for Ohio’s Cincinnati-Columbus-Cleveland “3C” route. The Federal Railroad Administration will redirect $810 million from Wisconsin and $385 million from Ohio, and will work with these states to determine whether they have already spent money under their contracts that should be reimbursed.

The $1.195 billion originally designated for those high-speed rail projects in Wisconsin and Ohio will now be used to support projects in the following states:

  • California: up to $624 million
  • Florida: up to $342.3 million
  • Washington State: up to $161.5 million
  • Illinois: up to $42.3 million
  • New York: up to $7.3 million
  • Maine: up to $3.3 million
  • Massachusetts: up to $2.8 million
  • Vermont: up to $2.7 million
  • Missouri up to $2.2 million
  • Wisconsin: up to $2 million for the Hiawatha line
  • Oregon: up to $1.6 million
  • North Carolina: up to $1.5 million
  • Iowa: up to $309,080
  • Indiana: up to $364,980