Speed It Up

"In 1996, representatives from the Departments of Transportation of nine Midwestern states...[envisioned a] nine-state, 3,000-mile hub-and-spoke [high-speed rail] system, utilizing existing track and reaching out from Chicago to cities like Detroit, Milwaukee, St. Louis and, yes, Indianapolis." Other states have invested money in the project, but Indiana politicians are still focusing on highway development. The author argues that "[h]igh-speed rail represents the new, knowledge-based economy - a system that thrives, in part, on cost effective mobility. Opening a two-way link to [the] region’s economic engine, Chicago...can make Indianapolis part of a dynamic Midwestern system...[that] could help support urban redevelopment and curb the suburban sprawl associated with our current dependence on cars and highways."