“Ox” Barack Obama Offers A “New Deal”

In Chinese astrology 2009 is the “Year of the Ox”. Only that person or a nation, it is said, would remain unscathed if it works its backside off this year. US president Barack Obama was born in the “Year of the Ox”, and his nose is tied to the grindstone. But he might just work out some miracles…provided his countrymen share his burden instead of nitpicking.

Among various alternatives for economic stimulus and stabilization in the financial crisis-ridden USA, the Obama administration and the Congress have begun to support a major public works initiative with particular emphasis on addressing America’s dire infrastructure crisis involving bridges, urban utilities, railways and public transportation.

President Obama has pledged $13 billion to ‘jump-start’ a high-speed rail system, says The Week. On a trip to France this spring, Obama said he was ‘jealous’ of French trains, which move passengers at speeds in excess of 200 miles per hour.

(America’s romance with the railways began 140 years go when The First Transcontinental Railroad was completed in 1869. By linking with the existing railway network of the Eastern United States, the road thus connected the Atlantic and Pacific coasts by rail for the first time.)

“Indeed, high-speed rail travel in Europe is now so fast, convenient, and comfortable that it has largely supplanted air travel between Madrid and Barcelona and between Paris and Lyon. ‘In any coherent world, using airplanes to fly 300 miles makes absolutely no sense at all,’ says former Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis, a onetime board member of Amtrak.

“A European-style high-speed rail system in the U.S. would mean travelers could make the 350-mile trip from Los Angeles to San Francisco in just two hours and 40 minutes. Such a system, advocates say, would be an economic boon, spurring travel and commerce among several cities positioned along a string of prospective rail ‘corridors.’

Where would those corridors be? “The Transportation Department has identified 10 regions it deems ripe for a rail renaissance. These include Florida (Orlando-Tampa-Miami) and the ‘Chicago Hub Network,’ which consists of Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Louis, and nine other Midwest cities.

“Notably absent is the nation’s most heavily trafficked train route, the Northeast Corridor from Boston to Washington, where existing infrastructure, steep grades, and winding track cannot accommodate high speeds. But none of the states along the proposed corridors appears ready to supply the enormous funds necessary to build high-speed lines, and the federal government’s slated contributions fall woefully short.

How much would this cost?

“As much as $100 billion, perhaps more. As a sort of down payment, President Obama earmarked $8 billion for high-speed rail in this year’s stimulus package and committed the feds to another $1 billion a year over the next five years. The House has added another $4 billion.

“But that’s merely a fraction of the cost of just one line; the proposed high-speed line linking Los Angeles and San Francisco, for instance, is expected to cost $34 billion. Advocates point out that the
U.S. has invested $1.8 trillion in highways and aviation over the past 60 years, so it’s not as if the alternatives are cheap.

“Skeptics such as Sam Staley of the libertarian Reason Foundation warn that high-speed rail could be ‘a black hole for government finance.’ But if high-speed trains ever get beyond the drawing board, they’ll probably do so first in California.

“Because California transit experts have been working for years on a high-speed rail plan, and last November voters approved a $10 billion bond referendum to begin funding it.

Is this an environmental issue?

“Absolutely. Transportation currently accounts for 70 percent of the oil we consume, and contributes 28 percent of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions…..Intercity passenger rail service consumes a third less energy per passenger mile than automotive travel.

“Indeed, the White House estimates that if all 10 proposed high-speed corridors come to fruition, together they would reduce annual CO2 production by 3 million tons. Obama insists that achieving such results is a realistic goal. ‘It is happening right now. It’s been happening for decades,’ he said. ‘The problem is, it’s been happening elsewhere—not here’.”

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Here is an interesting site discussing various issues related to Light rail…Please click here…

It seems that in the coming months/years if the bus and train combo continue to provide cheaper and comfortable travel many well-to-do people might also opt for public transportation. My earlier post here….

In another post I quoted Michael Moore: “Don’t put another $30 billion into the coffers of GM to build cars. Instead, use that money to keep the current workforce — and most of those who have been laid off — employed so that they can build the new modes of 21st century transportation. Let them start the conversion work now.

“Announce that we will have bullet trains criss-crossing this country in the next five years. Japan is celebrating the 45th anniversary of its first bullet train this year. Now they have dozens of them. Average speed: 165 mph. Average time a train is late: under 30 seconds. They have had these high speed trains for nearly five decades — and we don’t even have one!

“The fact that the technology already exists for us to go from New York to L.A. in 17 hours by train, and that we haven’t used it, is criminal. Let’s hire the unemployed to build the new high speed lines all over the country. Chicago to Detroit in less than two hours. Miami to DC in under 7 hours. Denver to Dallas in five and a half. This can be done and done now.

“Initiate a program to put light rail mass transit lines in all our large and medium-sized cities. Build those trains in the GM factories. And hire local people everywhere to install and run this system. For people in rural areas not served by the train lines, have the GM plants produce energy efficient clean buses.

“For the time being, have some factories build hybrid or all-electric cars (and batteries). It will take a few years for people to get used to the new ways to transport ourselves, so if we’re going to have automobiles, let’s have kinder, gentler ones.

“Transform some of the empty GM factories to facilities that build windmills, solar panels and other means of alternate forms of energy. We need tens of millions of solar panels right now. And there is an eager and skilled workforce who can build them.

“Provide tax incentives for those who travel by hybrid car or bus or train. Also, credits for those who convert their home to alternative energy.

“To help pay for this, impose a two-dollar tax on every gallon of gasoline. This will get people to switch to more energy saving cars or to use the new rail lines and rail cars the former autoworkers have built for them.”

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You like the photo above? Visit the website here…

Want more info about rail transport…Pl click here…