Obama Advisor on the State of Transportation

"G: There is a sense in certain circles that high-speed rail is finally getting its due. But you are saying it is still not enough?

JS: Well, it’s getting some attention, but the actual numbers in the stimulus are not such that one could imagine the national investment that one needs to make. I’m not talking about a national network of high-speed rail, because our country is just too darn big for that to be useful. When I say national I mean that we can develop these clusters of high-speed rail. It’s not only the Northeast corridor. There are opportunities in Florida, in the Texas triangle, Chicago, and in the Pacific Northwest. And it could have significant long-term impacts economically as well as environmentally. I’m not one of these crazies who get wild-eyed and say all we should do is rail, no more highways. I realize that’s politically not a reasonable stance to take. The best stance is to continue to develop highways effectively, but the lack of balance in our investment does concern me. These are expensive systems, no doubt, but the long-term benefits are really quite substantial."