Allocate High Speed Rail Full $4 Billion, Argues NYT

The United States lags the industrial world, and even some developing nations in building a true high speed rail network, laments the New York Times. Reauthorizing the transportation funding bill - on time, as Transportation & Infrastructure Committee Chairman James Oberstar advocates, would be an excellent opportunity to secure the necessary funding to jump-start this essential program.

"President Obama noted...that high-speed rail is not some pie-in-the-sky idea. 'It’s happening now,' he said. “The problem is that it is happening elsewhere.”

"Despite his support of the idea of high-speed rail, President Obama has put off dealing with the national transportation bill for another 18 months. That is a delayed opportunity to move forward on an important new national transportation plan to expand public transit in much the way the Federal-Aid Highway Act did for roads more than 50 years ago."