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Gov-elect Kasich is wrong on use of federal rail funds
TweetThe Obama administration has told Ohio’s next governor, Republican John Kasich, in the clearest language possible that the use-it-or-lose-it rule applies to the hundreds of millions of dollars in passenger rail money from the federal government.
If Kasich stands firm on his campaign promise to halt the development of a rail system linking Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Dayton, the U.S. Department of Transportation will take back the $400 million.
And the money won’t be used to reduce the deficit, as the governor-elect has suggested, if Ohio is prohibited from spending the funds on other transportation projects, such as roads and bridges.
In a letter to Kasich, who takes office in January, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood said the money can only be used for high-speed rail.
Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland, who lost his bid for a second four-year term, remains fully committed to the rail corridor and has rejected calls from his soon-to-be successor to halt the so-called 3-C project.
Instead, Strickland has not only made it clear that Ohio under his watch will not return the $400 million, but he is proceeding with a $25 million study.
“ ... There is nothing to fear from obtaining the good information that this study will provide to policy makers in the near term as well as the long time,” the governor’s office argues in a statement. “So even if the governor-elect chooses not to support rail when he takes office, future governors or legislators with a vision for a modern Ohio will have better information as a result of this work.”
Given that the money spent on the study will not have to be refunded to the federal government if the project is ultimately scrapped, Strickland has acted in the best interest of the state.
There is a lot of conflicting information about the number of jobs that would be created, the number of passengers who would travel between the cities, the speed of the trains and the cost of operating and maintaining the system. It is to be hoped that the study provides answers to the myriad questions surrounding the 3-C rail plan.
Intense competition
The $400 million is part of the $810 million in high-speed rail grants awarded by the Obama administration under the economic stimulus program. The competition for the money was intense and many states were disappointed.
Now, however, with Kasich saying he will not accept the funds, New York, California and North Carolina are among the states ready to grab Ohio’s allocation.
Therein lies the problem with the position staked out by Kasich: Ohio’s loss will be some other state’s gain.
As the statement from Gov. Strickland’s office rightly put it, “If the governor-elect wants to return Ohio’s federal grant money and send 16,000 jobs to another state, that will be his decision to make when he becomes governor.”
We would hope that Kasich reassesses his position in light of the fact that some other state will be laughing all the way to the bank if Ohio turns down the $400 million.
Comments
In my opinion the CCC rail plan was doomed to failure as it was based on using the same rails as freight limiting its avg. speed to 45mph. Now that the Federal money is freed up we can move... forward on a true high speed rail system using off the shelf technology that allows for a completely separate set of tracks. check out www.tubularrail.com The route I propose as a test would follow I680 in Baordman, OH with a station in downtown Youngstown, it would then follow the old B&O right of way with a station in Niles, Warren, and terminating at the GM plant in Lordstown, OH. once that is completed and people see it working and attracting riders, we could then get additional funding to extend the line South to Pittsburgh and North to Cleveland with either a spur to Akron or routing through Akron. This would connect the medical and Technology corridor as well as provide great cultural and recreational travel options.
As for db2's comment (post#1) I would rather live in a second class nation with Obama as President, than let the Tea Party or Republicans turn the USA into a third-world nation where the only way that the filthy rich elites can live safely is to use the entire US military to keep the other 320 million 2nd class citizens from rioting. BTW Cash for Clunkers was a Bush administration program, just like the Financial bailout and the 1st auto bailout. and before you even pull out the socialist label if Obama was a Socialist, right now the banks, automakers, and oil industry all would have been nationalized.
Use-it-or-lose-it, Gov. Elect! We need those jobs. Besides, the interstate highways are jammed with cars. Some of us would like to be able to work while we ride, just like they do on the East Coast.
Instead, why not take the Chevy Volt from Government Motors and lower it from $41,000 to $14,000 via the $400Million government dollars earmarked for a 45mph rail system.
Since it has to go to rail why dosnt the Ohio government spend it on passage rail that also carry freight to help out local industry
"Instead, why not take the Chevy Volt from Government Motors and lower it from $41,000 to $14,000 via the $400Million government dollars earmarked for a 45mph rail system."
Because that doesn't address the problems of congested highways, or lack of alternate forms of transportation.
"Since it has to go to rail why dosnt the Ohio government spend it on passage rail that also carry freight to help out local industry "
It would have. The upgrades made to the 3C corridor would have helped the freight RRs that own the lines by allowing their freight trains to go faster, too.
The chief opponents to passenger rail are the oil companies.
In freight, rail is twice as efficient as trucking:
http://www.kehoe.org/owen/portfolio/t...
When I was a kid, the wealthiest blue chip companies in Ammerica were the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central. The car and oil companies put them under -- not through competition, but by legislation favoring big oil and big auto.
For a lot of people Youngstown, Warren, Sharon and New Castle were bed room communities for Pittsburgh and Cleveland. After the P&LE (Pittsburgh and Lake Erie) ended commuter service about 1962, many whilte collar workers who used to commute into Pittsburgh every day, relocated closer to work rather than drive.
The problem is anyone with common sense knows this is a earmarked Dumbocrat Slow Speed Train at an average of 39 MPH. Meanwhile, Europe and Japan are working on 200 MPH train lines. There will be no permanent private sector jobs created. Eventually, the government would have to use our tax dollars to support this train line that would never get enough use to be self supporting. Just another example of wasted Stimulus Monies by Odumbo, Stricknine, and the Dumbocrats!
- The average speed would be 45-50 mph, about the same as driving.
- I agree that this system wouldn't be self-supporting, just like every other form of transportation in the US. (roads/highways, air travel, etc.)
True high speed rail does not operate at 50 mph, but closer to 200 mph. This project is a complete waste of money as it cannot be operated on the same lines that is used by freight. And, there is not sufficient right of way width to add a third line on most railways.
Passenger rail was doomed with cheap autos and gas but was dealt the death blow with the interstate highway system. while the "tubular rail" concept is interesting as it could be constructed on interstate right-of-way, it doesn't address the problem of what you do when you get to the terminal. You still need a method of transport to get you to your ultimate destination.
we subsidized all transit systems be it air, rail, river, or roads. The questing is what do we want to put where. Me personally i would rather not give the airlines a dime. Spend that amount on rail something that nicer to travel on as a passenger. Also would help american factory compete in a global market place.
The 3C start up line would not be high speed initially, and would have shared tracks with freight railroads. That's why they were generally in favor of this, because they would reap the benefits of the improved tracks. But you're right that freight trains and high speed trains wouldn't share the same tracks. I think this project was called "high speed" becaue that was the ultimate goal of this route.
UnionForever posted: "The problem is anyone with common sense knows this is a earmarked Dumbocrat Slow Speed Train at an average of 39 MPH. Meanwhile, Europe and Japan are working on 200 MPH train lines. There will be no permanent private sector jobs created. Eventually, the government would have to use our tax dollars to support this train line that would never get enough use to be self supporting. Just another example of wasted Stimulus Monies by Odumbo, Stricknine, and the Dumbocrats!"
I hate to tell you this, but the 3C's train is a Republican plan. It was written by Republican James Seney who was appointed to the Ohio Rail Commission by a Republican Governor.
And Mr. Seney's plan was approved 33-0 by the Republican controlled State Senate and the Senate authorized the State of Ohio and the Governor's office to seek Federal funding for the plan.
The only thing that the Democrats have done is to actually fund the Republican plan.
walter_sobchak posted: "Passenger rail was doomed with cheap autos and gas but was dealt the death blow with the interstate highway system."
No, passenger rail was hurt by the highly subsidized highways. The Fed interferred in the free market forever upsetting the balance of things.
Then they made things even worse by slapping a 4.3 cent fuel tax on the RR that they poured into the highways, and a ticket tax on passengers that also went into the highways.
So the Fed provided free highways and forced the RR's to help subsidize their competition.
People however are finally starting to realize that we cannot keep building more highways, as we have neither the land in our cities nor the money to fund it. We just borrowed $34.5 Billion last year for our highways at the Federal level because the users didn't pay enough via the fuel taxes to cover the expenses.
walter_sobchak posted: "while the "tubular rail" concept is interesting as it could be constructed on interstate right-of-way, it doesn't address the problem of what you do when you get to the terminal. You still need a method of transport to get you to your ultimate destination."
If we applied that logic to everything, we wouldn't have airports either.
ahblid - times have changed and now the goal is to cut taxes and spending to improve the economy. There isn't ONE GOP or TEA Partier who would vote to approve the $400M Slow Speed Trainline to nowhere now. Guaranteed :)
Oh well, at least some other state will benefit from the GOP's/Tea Party's shortsightedness.
ahblid,
What do you think the tax money was spent on? Interstate Highways! It was a 90% federal match and was a no brainer for communities and states. These highways allowed easy access for the masses to get to airports and get to their destinations in very short time.
For decades, the railroads had no competition but were given special treatment by the federal govt to obtain land to lay track. They have had plenty of assitance from the feds in their day.
I like how some think that new rail is not a good thing. Its called infrastructure. Why did we let the government build roads and bridges? how much money do they make? if republicants like Kasick were around 100 years ago we would have no roads today. Horses were faster than most cars.
UnionForever wrote: "ahblid - times have changed and now the goal is to cut taxes and spending to improve the economy. There isn't ONE GOP or TEA Partier who would vote to approve the $400M Slow Speed Trainline to nowhere now. Guaranteed :)"
That may or may not be true.
However, that still doesn't change the fact that this isn't a Democratic plan; it's a Republican plan written by a Republican working for a Republican Governor, and approved by the Republican controlled State Senate.
Other than the fact that it's a Democratic Governor who would have cashed the check, the Dems had nothing to do with this project like you claimed.
walter_sobchak wrote: "What do you think the tax money was spent on? Interstate Highways! It was a 90% federal match and was a no brainer for communities and states. These highways allowed easy access for the masses to get to airports and get to their destinations in very short time."
And yet they should have used their brains, most states can now barely keep up with the maintenance on those highways. It's killing them.
walter_sobchak wrote: "For decades, the railroads had no competition but were given special treatment by the federal govt to obtain land to lay track. They have had plenty of assitance from the feds in their day."
Yes, for a number of years the RR's did indeed get land grants. The Fed officially marked that debt paid in full after WWII when the RR's moved troops & supplies for the war effort
Not to mention that rail lines are some of the most heavily taxed real estate around. State's love to tax the RR's because they don't vote.
Regardless of opinions on whether high speed rail systems are a good thing or a waste of money (they seem to work in other countries) is beside the point. You voted for a new governor that is NOT aware of the fact that when federal funds are earmarked for a certain project, it can't be flipped to some project or program. If it's for peanuts, you cannot buy popcorn with it. Your new governor should have enough political experience to know that...I guess he doesn't.