New York City - After Florida Governor Rick Scott rejected
$2 billion in federal funding for a high-speed rail link connecting Orlando and
Tampa, the U.S. Department of Transportation reallocated the funds to projects
primarily in Northeast Corridor, the Midwest and California.
"If they don't want it, we'll take it and we need
it," said Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), speaking Monday during a press
conference with Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood in New York City's
Pennsylvania Station. "Florida's loss is New York's gain. We can't
understand the governors that don't want to build transportation infrastructure
and high-speed rail; we just don't understand it because this has always been a
federal function."
DOT gave the Northeast Corridor a total of $795 million in
high-speed rail funding, including $450 million to Amtrak to create a 24-mile
segment of track capable of supporting train speeds up to 160 miles per hour,
up from the current maximum of 135 miles per hour. The rest of the funding will
be spread across Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania
and Rhode Island to develop infrastructure and improve commuting times.
Of the $354 million reallocated to New York, $295 million
will be spent to "alleviate major delays for trains coming in and out of
Manhattan with new routes that allow Amtrak trains to bypass the busiest
passenger rail junction in the nation," according to a DOT statement.
Within the Midwest—set to receive a total of $404
million—DOT awarded much of the funding to develop high-speed rail service
between Chicago and Detroit. California is getting $300 million to continue
work on a 220-mph high-speed rail link between Los Angeles and San Francisco.
After LaHood in February announced that Florida's $2.4
billion was again up for grabs, DOT received nearly 100 applications from 24
states, the District of Columbia and Amtrak. DOT's Federal Railroad
Administration awarded funding to 15 states and Amtrak for 22 high-speed
intercity passenger rail projects, propelling President Barack Obama's goal to
connect 80 percent of Americans to high-speed rail in 25 years.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 set aside
$8 billion to begin work on high-speed rail development in the United States.
However, those plans faced backlash among several state governors who claimed
the lasting burden on states to maintain the tracks was not a sound investment.
During the recent debates around fiscal year 2011 budgets, Congress slashed new funding proposed for high-speed rail.
Countering that sentiment, LaHood said: "When you look
at the investments that have been made in Europe and Asia, they are enormous.
The president is going to work with Congress to reduce the debt and the deficit
but the president is not going to give up on transportation.
"The awards that we
have made today were made to very reliable partners," LaHood added.
"We will continue to work with these transportation leaders on resources
they need to continue to fix up infrastructure in their state."