After Florida’s rejection of Government funding for it’s high speed rail project, APTA President William Millar issued the following statement:
“While recent attention has focused on three states (Florida, Wisconsin and Ohio) returning their federal grants for high-speed rail, the facts are that 28 states are forging ahead in planning and implementing high-speed and intercity passenger rail improvements. These states recognize the critical importance of investing to create a modern, intermodal 21st century transportation system to accommodate expected population and economic growth.
“This investment is expanding the rail industry in the United States and will lead to hundreds of thousands of much-needed American jobs. High-speed rail will be an economic boon to the communities and states it serves and will help relieve highway and aviation congestion in many corridors.
“America is expected to grow dramatically in the next several decades. We must make infrastructure investments now just as President Eisenhower did in the 1950’s in creating the interstate highway system. President Obama and the governors of these 28 states are to be congratulated for their vision.”
