GGA Meets High Speed Rail
For more than 40 years, I have been passionate about high speed rail. It started the first time I visited Europe as a college student and rode on France’s famed TGV trains. European train travel was convenient, comfortable and always on time. For an American, it was a romantic mode of transportation from a bygone era. While for Europe, it was the transportation system of not just the moment but also the future.
Why America abandoned such a wonderful and convenient method of transportation was a question that at the time I could not reconcile. America’s fascination and ultimate dependence on the automobile and relatively inexpensive gasoline and air travel ultimately lead to the downfall of the passenger rail system in America. That direction has shaped our transportation and planning policies for the last five decades. That direction has had an enormous negative impact on America.
In the early part of 2009, President Barack Obama announced his vision for high speed rail in America. I was excited to hear, for the first time by an American President, a vision of a transportation system that could transform our country through its enormous benefits. At this time in our history, high speed rail could not be more relevant or important. High speed rail has the opportunity to provide one of the most economical and efficient modes of transportation to our country. It will help create a significant number of new, green jobs, reduce America’s dependence on oil and it will create new and exciting development opportunities in existing first and second tier urban areas. It is a clean, efficient, fast and comfortable mode of transportation for America’s future.
In June of 2009, I and members of the GGA team became involved in efforts to bring true high speed rail to America by orchestrating a major high speed rail conference in Washington, DC. The conference had speakers from all over the world including U.S. Congresswomen Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, Congressman Jim Costa of California, Congressman Paul Tonko of New York, Governor Edward Rendell of Pennsylvania, Jean-Pierre Lubinoux, President of UIC, Mayor John Robert Smith of Reconnecting America, Parris Glendening of Smart Growth Leadership Institute and more than 300 attendees.
In January 2010, I, along with GGA executives Mary Ellen Curto (COO) and Elizabeth Cockerham (CAO), founded the American High Speed Rail Alliance (AHSRA). This nonprofit association was established to accelerate efforts to bring high speed rail to America though advocacy, education, development, technology and the deployment of industries in the advancement of high speed rail systems in the United States.
GGA is proud to be a leader and supporter of this great organization and its mission. For more information on our initiatives and campaigns, please visit www.americanhsra.org.