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Obama on transportation


ChiefJoJo

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

And yet in Obama's just announced economic recovery plan, there is barely a mention of transportation outside of fixing bridges.

If I remember correctly, there's supposed to be at least one other stimulus package to follow this initial one. The one that's out now is focused mostly on roads and bridges.

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^ I hope you're right because the plan is now looking like a blank check to state DOT's for highway projects (widening, new interchanges, not just repaving and repairing bridges). Mayors around the country are pushing for a share of the funds for local projects, which should be more transit-oriented, and hopefully they'll be successful in fighting the highway lobby.

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Because the stimulus package requires completely ready fully-designed transportation projects that are ready to go on day one. These overwhelmingly are bridges & highway improvements - which are badly needed due to the nation's highway infrastructure being largely ignored by the federal government in the past decade.

You'll have to wait later for transit projects, but I think it will come.

- Correction, there are public transportation projects likely to be included in the infrastructure bill. But they will largely be for existing infrastructure improvements.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 months later...

I really hope this can be built out as planned. Obviously it will take several terms from various presidents, but I'm optimistic that the groundwork that Obama is doing now will translate into this actually coming to fruition in the coming years.

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  • 6 months later...

Watching the daily show I realized that Obama might have unexpectedly shifted social consensus to mass transit. Under cash for clunkers, many vehicles were taken off the road and rendered inoperable. The future consequence is a small pool of used cars driving up costs, inother words making buying a car (or having daddy buy it) for teenagers much more difficult. This should lift up the usage of mass transit, which should have a social effect in the future.

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It will take new thinking. If I'm to judge by recent conversations at my club, transportation ideas are firmly entrenched and must be drastically altered. I'm thought of as something of a nutcase there when I mention that we might think of alternatives to the internal combustion engine. Obama has said the right things, but what are the facts regarding Amtrak and its future funding? We need a viable plan for rapid rail and the willlingness to make it more than just a plan.

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has said the right things, but what are the facts regarding Amtrak and its future funding? We need a viable plan for rapid rail and the willlingness to make it more than just a plan.

The NARP website (narprail.org) has detailed information about Amtrak funding for next year- going DOWN, despite the talk of "hope and change" from Obama.

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  • 2 weeks later...

despite the talk of "hope and change" from Obama.

Forever the pessimist, I have yet to see the change, and don't have a lot of that hope. :dontknow: Lots of promises were made that he likely will not be able to fulfill, but isn't that typical of most politicians? We'll see if and what he can deliver, not holding my breath, but I DO want to see him be a successful President. A new direction for transit in this country should be one of his priorities, but I suspect it is at the bottom of the list with all of the other goings-on.

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  • 1 year later...

The US is so far behind Europe and Asia on LRT and High Speed rails between cities. The mind set is going to have to change before Obama transportation plan will work. There are states giving money back from rail projects because they do not want it.

Unfortunately I think most people view the train system in America in the same manner as the bus system...maybe just slightly better. I'm not sure if that's going to change anytime soon unless the federal government takes on the project and pumps enough money into the infrastructure to make it equal to or greater than the state of the art systems in Europe and Asia.

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