President Obama wasn’t the only one who took a shellacking on Election Day. High speed rail took a beating as well. That may not necessarily be a bad thing for high-speed rail in the United States though.
John Kasich summed up the threat when he he declared one day after becoming governor-elect of the Buckeye State, “Passenger rail is not in Ohio’s future. That train is dead.” He was referring to the planned 3C line that would link Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati, Ohio’s three largest cities (combined population, roughly 6 million). The construction cost of $400 million was borne completely by the feds through stimulus funds, leaving Ohio responsible for about $17 million a year in operation and maintenance fees.
The train would have had a top speed of 79 mph and a projected average of 50 mph — not blindingly fast, but not bad considering the cost. The route would connect large urban areas with dense cores, good public transit and heavy traffic, making it an ideal testing ground for intercity rail and a great deal for the state. But the governor-elect’s opposition almost certainly means the end of the project for now.
The midterm elections saw the vitriol and hyperbole of arguments against high-speed rail and opposition to stimulus spending ramp up significantly. It has become a shortcut for polemics on both side of the ideological line.
For advocates, high-speed rail represents environmentalism, infrastructural overhaul, denser cities and public transit – nothing short of saving the world and re-energizing the national economy. For detractors, it represents wasteful spending, baseless social engineering and the erosion of individual liberties and their opposition is preventing fascism and poverty. The hyperbole is almost that bad on both sides.
Though not the most salient campaign issue in comparison to healthcare, high-speed rail became contentious in the areas it was most relevant. In Wisconsin, like Ohio, the governor-elect made an issue of opposing the state’s line, which would have linked Madison and Milwaukee, with another line to Chicago. The project received more than $800 million in federal funding.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood says any rejected funds will be given to other states. California, where Governor-elect Jerry Brown supports the proposed high-speed line between San Diego and San Francisco, has requested that reallocated funds help defray the $45 billion (and climbing) cost of what is generally considered the nation’s most secure HSR project. In Florida, where Governor-elect Rick Scott has questioned the 220-mph Tampa-Orlando line, a consortium that includes Virgin Group is lining up behind the project. Much of the money for Florida’s project is coming from the federal government, which hopes to eventually extend the line to Miami and Jacksonville.
The races for national office generally ended badly for transportation advocates. Rep. James Oberstar, the 18-term Democrat from Minnesota and chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, lost his bid for reelection. The chairmanship almost certainly will go to Rep. John Mica of Florida. Mica, like Oberstar, has been a strong advocate of high-speed rail, though he has promised to ‘reexamine’ Obama’s transportation spending.
This is not American high-speed rail’s best hour, but that may not be a bad thing. Fiscal pressure often weeds out lesser projects; rail is expensive and commercial viability is not guaranteed. If the people of Ohio and Wisconsin do not want to ride the rails, they will not have to. Florida’s rail is imperiled by the nature of the endpoints — sprawling cities without great transit. Mica has mentioned that money should be going to speed up the Northeast Corridor, a project that would cost in excess of $100 billion but links cities significantly more likely to see tangible benefits from increased speed.
We are sure to see an increasingly nasty argument over high-speed rail, particularly as pressure mounts to pass a new overarching transportation bill. Watch this space.
Photo of the Amtrak Acela in Odenton, Maryland: skabat169 / Flickr
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