REMARKS FOR
THE HONORABLE MARY PETERS
SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION
INTERCITY HIGH-SPEED RAIL EVENT
NEW YORK, NY
DECEMBER 15, 2008
12:00 PM
Good afternoon, and thank you all for joining us today.
Mayor Bloomberg, it is always a pleasure to share the stage with you in this
great city, and I want to thank you for your commitment to reducing congestion
in and around New York. Mayor Bloomberg understands what it takes to keep people
moving in a 21st Century city, and it is an honor to work with him.
Joining us today are two frequent Northeast Corridor travelers — Congressman
Mike Castle of Delaware and New York’s own Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney. Thank
you for being here today.
I would also like to welcome Congressman John Mica, Ranking Member on the House
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and thank him for his efforts to
bring us all together. Were it not for his persistence in Congress, the
significant rail announcement we are about to make would not be possible.
Congressman Mica works so hard on rail issues both for the Northeast Corridor
and the rest of the nation, and I want to thank him for his leadership and
vision.
Congressman Mica understands the need to refocus, reform and renew
transportation policy in America. He knows, as does Mayor Bloomberg, that we
need a new way forward if we are to cut congestion, reduce travel and commute
times and preserve our environment.
It is fitting that we are here at New York's Penn Station, one of the country's
busiest transportation hubs, to announce the start of just such an effort — one
that could bring high-speed intercity passenger rail to the United States.
Today, I am announcing that the U.S. Department of Transportation will begin
accepting expressions of interest to finance, design, build, operate and
maintain high-speed trains on the Northeast Corridor and in 10 other
federally-designated corridors around the nation.
This is a first step in a process established by Congress to put ideas to paper,
and to make concrete proposals for what the future might look like.
Imagine traveling by train between New York City and Washington, D.C. in just
two hours or cutting your trip time by 25 percent between New York City and
Boston. Or imagine new passenger rail service on high-speed corridors between
other major cities across the country. We want to know if and where it can be
done — and we want to know how to make it affordable.
Americans need new ways of travelling between major cities, and a properly
structured intercity passenger rail system can and must play a larger role in
our nation’s transportation future.
In the past year, we have seen Americans driving significantly fewer miles, and
we have seen ridership on trains increase. Just last week, we announced data
showing Americans drove more than 100 billion fewer miles between November 2007
and October 2008 than during the same period a year earlier.
There is growing interest in intercity passenger rail as an alternative to
driving and flying, but for it to really work, it must be viable, efficient and
competitive.
Such a system would offer public benefits all of us would like to see — reduced
demand on congested highways, reduced fossil fuel emissions and decreased fuel
consumption.
Thanks to Congressman Mica, Congress has provided the first step in this
process. But any workable high-speed rail proposal will require a combination of
public and private participation. We have seen private financing for highway and
port projects make the impossible possible — and it can be the same for
intercity passenger rail.
The Department looks forward to reviewing the proposals when they are submitted,
and to keeping the process moving forward so Congress has the resources and
information it needs to make future funding decisions.
Once again, I would like to thank Congressman Mica for championing this issue,
and Mayor Bloomberg for his support of this and so many other critical
transportation initiatives. Mr. Mayor…
# # #
A full copy of the Federal Register notice can by found at
http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/pdf/E8-29795.pdf
Briefing
Room
