WASHINGTON — The Department of Transportation has received more than 90 applications from 24 states, the District of Columbia, and Amtrak seeking a total of nearly $10 billion for high-speed rail projects — more than four times the $2.4 billion available from Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s cancellation of a project in his state.
“We are extremely pleased to see the bipartisan enthusiasm behind all of the requests to get into the high-speed rail business,” Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Wednesday in announcing the applicants in the competitive bid process for the Florida money.
The application period for the $2.4 billion of high-speed rail funds closed Monday. The Federal Railroad Administration is currently reviewing the applications.
The states are California, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.
Wisconsin is seeking funds after Gov. Scott Walker rejected $810 million to build a high-speed rail line linking Milwaukee to Madison.
Meanwhile, the American Public Transportation Association issued a 10-page report claiming that federal investment in high-speed rail over a six-year period would support and create more than 1.3 million jobs.
The report was called “The Case for Business Investment in High-Speed and Intercity Passenger Rail.”
“It is evident that investing in high speed and intercity rail projects presents one of the clearest and fastest ways to create green, American jobs and spur long-term economic growth,” APTA president William Millar said in a statement.
Congress provided $8 billion for high-speed rail projects in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which was enacted in February 2009. Federal lawmakers supplemented that amount with another $2.5 billion if fiscal 2010.
The Obama administration’s proposed fiscal 2012 budget calls for Congress to authorize another $53 billion for fast rail over the six-year period through fiscal 2017.
But a number of Republican freshmen governors have opposed funds for high-speed rail. Besides Florida’s Scott, who canceled a project that would have connected Tampa and Orlando, and Wisconsin’s Walker, Ohio Gov. John Kasich turned down $400 million for a line that would link Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati.
In addition, Republicans are forcing Democrats to make major cuts in non-security discretionary spending for the remainder of fiscal 2011. And the House Budget Committee is expected to approve a fiscal 2012 budget resolution proposed Tuesday by chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., that would cut $6.2 trillion in government spending over the next decade.
