Statement by American Public Transportation Association (APTA) President William Millar

“With the pending announcements of the first federal grants for high-speed rail, I praise the Obama Administration for taking this historic step toward bringing the vision of high-speed passenger rail to fruition in America. It is the beginning of our nation’s journey in implementing high-speed rail and higher-speed rail and creating a world-class, multi-modal transportation system.  This time will be remembered as the beginning of a new era in transportation.

Investing in high-speed rail is essential for our country’s future.  Not only will high-speed rail provide faster and quicker travel, but it will create American jobs now while building a new industry with hundreds of thousands of long-term, sustainable jobs. 

While ensuring that America remains an economic engine with good, “green” American jobs, high-speed rail is also essential so that we can move toward a sustainable, modern transportation system that meets the environmental and energy challenges of this century. 

These grants for high-speed rail mean that we are much closer to a world-class transportation system that demonstrates the vision of a connected America.  They put us on the right track to connecting our transportation network so that people can take high-speed rail and easily transfer to local public transportation services to reach their destination. 

As long-time advocates for high-speed rail, APTA and its membership are enthusiastic about the coming high-speed rail grant announcements.  There is a lot of work ahead and we look forward to the challenge of making high-speed rail a reality.”

 http://www.apta.com/mediacenter/pressreleases/2010/Pages/100127_.aspx