advertisement

---

The high-speed rail grant announcements won’t be made by the White House until tomorrow, but at least one transit industry organization already is weighing in.

American Public Transportation Association President William Millar issued the following statement regarding the pending grants:

“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.”