WASHINGTON — Rail and transit groups are offering mostly positive reaction to the transportation aspects of the $2 trillion infrastructure, climate, and jobs plan announced Wednesday by President Joe Biden, with only the Association of American Railroads qualifying its support.
The proposal dubbed the American Jobs Plan would devote $621 billion to transportation infrastructure, a figure the Washington Post reports includes $85 billion for public transportation and $80 billion for passenger and freight rail.
American Public Transportation Association CEO Paul P. Skoutelas praised the plan as a “forward-thinking investment,” saying it “will help our communities meet growing mobility demands, create family-wage jobs, expand U.S. manufacturing and supply chains, and grow the economy,” and that the plan “recognizes the immediate need for public transit agencies to continue to provide essential services during the COVID-19 pandemic and support our nation’s economic recovery. APTA looks forward to continuing to work with Congress and the Biden Administration to achieve our common goal of building stronger and more equitable communities across our nation. The time is now to make a transformational investment in our national infrastructure.”
Amtrak, a major beneficiary of the funding, released a plan which calls for service on a host of new routes and service to up to 160 new communities, as well as “enhanced” service on existing routes. [See “Amtrak unveils ‘Connects US’ map …,” Trains News Wire, March 31, 2021.]
Amtrak CEO Bill Flynn called the Biden plan “what this nation has been waiting for. Amtrak must rebuild and improve the Northeast Corridor, our National Network and expand our service to more of America. The NEC’s many major tunnels and bridges – most of which are over a century old – must be replaced and upgraded to avoid devastating consequences for our transportation network and the country. … With this federal investment, Amtrak will create jobs and improve equity across cities, regions, and the entire country – and we are ready to deliver.”
For its part, the AAR expressed concerns about funding for the plan.
“President Biden’s proposal makes clear his administration’s priority for making these much-needed investments to restore our highways, bridges and roads, and improve our ports,” AAR CEO Ian Jefferies said in a statement. “At the same time, mission number one is fueling an economic recovery. Railroads would urge the administration and Congress to abandon these divisive, unrelated funding sources and instead work toward bipartisan solutions to restore the Highway Trust Fund to a true user-pays system.”
In a report released earlier this month on railroads and climate change, the AAR called for a Vehicle Miles Traveled fee which would charge trucks based on weight or axle count, along with an emissions surcharge to fund passenger rail.
American Short Line and Regional Rail Association President Chuck Baker said the organization “and the nation’s 600+ small-business short line railroads welcome the president’s infrastructure proposal … “Short lines are a critical part of the nation’s infrastructure, driving economic growth across the country, as we serve thousands of shippers in the critical manufacturing, agriculture, and energy industries, and thousands of communities, particularly in small town and rural America. … Short lines can help accomplish many of the nation’s most important goals, such as economic development, jobs growth, safety, and environmental sustainability, and we will look to help steer this plan in a way that recognizes and prioritizes those possibilities.”
