Let's Get Moving (again)

Well that was a long hiatus.

Actually, it hasn’t been that long with the way transportation policy has moved over the past several years. Until last week, the U.S. federal transportation budget has been surviving on extensions of transportation legislation dating back 10 years or so.

The FAST Act devotes $305 billion to the federal surface transportation program over five years, and has big implications for passenger rail travel.

Amtrak will receive $10 billion in funding over the duration of the bill, which also officially separates the Northeast corridor and connecting regional lines from public/private train system’s long-distance trains.

That means the Northeast Corridor, which brings in $400 million in profits annually, can now re-invest in itself.

Other recent good news includes a partnership between the feds, New Jersey, New York, and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to construct new tunnel(s) under the Hudson River into Manhattan.

To remind you, this is important because NJ Transit and Amtrak have estimated that the current 100+ year-old tunnels will need to be closed for repairs within the next 20 years. Traveling in New Jersey already sucks, the last thing we need is to go from 40 trains to six trains both ways each hour through the Hudson Tubes.

I would expect that in the coming weeks, you’ll hear more about FAST, the progress of high speed rail in California, Illinois, Nevada, Florida, and Texas, and the woes of driving and train-riding in eastern New Jersey.

Author’s note: I have a new gig. Read about it here.