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"Amtrak-Joe" Biden, arguably the U.S. Government's biggest supporter of rail, will be the 46th President. Supporters of California's High-Speed Rail project and rail transportation have reason to celebrate. As a Politico reporter put it on twitter:
Joe Biden's infrastructure plan says he wants to "spark the second great rail revolution."
Here's what that might look like in a post-Covid world.
"They want to combat climate change, build infrastructure, and build good, union paying jobs," said a source close to California's project about the incoming Biden Administration. "Just having a cooperative federal partner that believes in the value of the system is massively important and will be a welcome change."
Lytton cautions that if the Senate remains under Republican control--with Mitch McConnell leading the majority--HSR construction in California could be hobbled.
It will be harder for a Republican-controlled Senate to stop California's HSR project, now that so much concrete is poured and trains capable of 220 mph, such as the Avelia Liberty seen here during tests in Colorado, are now running in the U.S. Image: Amtrak
The California High-Speed Rail Authority did not immediately provide its position on moving the project forward under a Biden Administration. However, Streetsblog's source close to the project said even if the Republicans hold onto a slim majority in the Senate it would still be workable. "It’s not as if the project is theoretical, like it was with the stimulus in 2009. We're under construction, moving every inch of the program forward," said the source. "Georgia matters, maybe, but I don’t know what senators are necessarily going to take an 'anti' position directly on a project in another state."
Meaning as long as HSR can be bundled with projects that Republicans want for their states, there's no reason to think billions of stimulus funds can't also be made available for HSR, especially with the House still majority Democrat and the White House with an actively pro-rail administration. "Everything has changed with this election," said Kunz. "I don’t think the Senate is going to be able to stand in the way of American progress like they were."
L.A. County needs to embrace physically-protected bikeways, robust traffic calming around schools, and similarly transformative, safety-focused projects
Caltrans, we need complete streets everywhere, including at freeway interchanges (or maybe especially there); Public agencies and academics join forces to develop AV standards; Republicans really want to suspend the gas tax; More