Yesterday I wrote to Evan Dawson from WHAM News 13 in an effort to find out why he chose to compare HSR to the Rochester/Toronto fast ferry in his recent article, High Speed Rail: Fast Forward, Not Fast Ferry… Right? My concern was that this was an unfair, apples-to-oranges comparison. After all, passenger rail has served our region for over 150 years and if NY doesn’t want the upgrade it will go to Florida, Texas, California, Ohio, etc. To Dawson’s credit he took the time to write me back. He didn’t have to and I appreciate that. BUT, he missed the point I was trying to make and for the record, I still take issue with his comparison to the failed ferry and his line of questioning directed at Congresswoman Slaughter. Below is his response to my first email. Below that is MY response to his response. More to come I’m sure…
Posts Tagged ‘economic stimulus’...
More Discussion with WHAM 13’s Evan Dawson on the Cost of High Speed Rail
Friday, April 16th, 2010Tags: Amtrak, economic stimulus, Evan Dawson, Fast Ferry, federal stimulus money, Greyhound, high speed rail, New York, Ray LaHood, Rep. Louise Slaughter, Rochester, Rochester Amtrak Station, Rochester NY, Trailways, WHAM
Posted in Opinion, Rochester News, Transit + Infrastructure | 1 Comment »
WHAM 13’s Evan Dawson: High Speed Rail = Fast Ferry
Thursday, April 15th, 2010
Last Friday (April 9, 2010) Louise Slaughter held a press conference at Rochester’s Amtrak Station along with Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to officially announce the arrival of High Speed Rail to Western NY. In addition to the track improvements made possible by $151 million in federal stimulus money, Slaughter said Rochester’s outdated Amtrak station will receive modest updates to the building and platform. She also announced that Amtrak, Greyhound, and Trailways (who were in attendance) were committed to building a new multimodal station as a separate project. Also in attendance was WHAM 13’s Evan Dawson [[email protected]]. Dawson asked some tough questions. For example, “Who will subsidize the project?” Good one Dawson. Hey, does WHAM have any openings? I’d like to apply.
So this past Monday Dawson posted his commentary, High Speed Rail: Fast Forward, Not Fast Ferry… Right? It’s quite the masterpiece. The article points to a list of questions that he’d like answers to. But since he hasn’t found the answers yet… he’ll just assume that these upgrades to the nation’s rail system are unnecessary and will be the next “fast ferry”.
While I applaud Dawson’s quest to find answers to certain outstanding questions, I take issue with his use of metaphor. And since WHAM doesn’t allow user comments on their site anymore, I had to send him this email in order to let him know how I felt…
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Tags: Amtrak, economic stimulus, Evan Dawson, Fast Ferry, federal stimulus money, Greyhound, high speed rail, New York, Ray LaHood, Rep. Louise Slaughter, Rochester, Rochester Amtrak Station, Rochester NY, Trailways, WHAM
Posted in Opinion, Rochester News, Transit + Infrastructure | 8 Comments »
How the Recession will Improve Mobility in the U.S. vs. China
Wednesday, December 30th, 2009
Similar to how the Interstates reshaped America 50 years ago, the Chinese landscape is now being reshaped by historic levels of infrastructure spending. While the U.S. government seeks to revive it’s struggling economy in part by spending billions on shovel-ready, band-aid projects (i.e. re-surfacing roads), it seems Beijing’s goal is to put 26 million Chinese to work building new high-speed rail connections between its cities.
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Tags: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, ARRA, Beijing, Caldecott Tunnel, California, China, Clearwater, economic stimulus, economy, federal stimulus money, Florida, high speed rail, highway, I-215, I-405, infrastructure, Los Angeles, rail, railroad, Ray LaHood, recession, San Bernardino, San Francisco, Shanghai, transportation, Transportation Secretary, U.S., U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), US19/SR 55
Posted in Train/Railroad Stuff, Transit + Infrastructure, Video | 2 Comments »
Ray LaHood Announces Money for Transit Projects
Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009BECKY BOHRER (AP) NEW ORLEANS — The federal government is making available $280 million for street cars and other public transportation projects aimed at creating jobs and more walkable, environmentally friendly communities.
(Will Rochester see a dime?)
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood made the announcement Tuesday at a streetcar barn in New Orleans. The city, which has been trying to overhaul its public transit system since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, was LaHood’s first stop on a listening tour on federal transportation policy.
The last transportation spending bill expired in September. While President Barack Obama’s administration has sought a reprieve into 2011, given the federal stimulus package that passed earlier this year and was aimed largely at public works projects, Congress hasn’t agreed to an extension past mid-December.
LaHood said there’s a “pent up demand” for infrastructure work around the country… (more…)
Tags: economic stimulus, federal stimulus money, federal transportation policy, Four Corners, Gov. David Paterson, government, Great American Streetcar Scandal, infrastructure, mass transit, Mayor Duffy, Mayor Patrick Duffy, New Orleans, New York, public transportation, Ray LaHood, Rep. Louise Slaughter, Rochester, Rochester history, Rochester NY, Rochester Subway, Sen. Charles Schumer, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, street cars, transit, Transportation Secretary, U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT)
Posted in Rochester News, Transit + Infrastructure, Urban Development | No Comments »
So… What Will Obama Build?
Tuesday, January 20th, 2009Today was an historic day for America in many ways. Whether you voted for President Obama or not, most Americans agree on one thing — our infrastructure could use a few upgrades. During his campaign, Obama expressed that one of his priorities would be to rebuild America’s aging schools, roads, and power grid. Today, in his first address as President, he restated this intention.
Tags: bridges, economic stimulus, economy, government spending, green energy, highspeed rail, highway, hydrogen fuel, I-490, infrastructure, light-rail, President Obama, Presidential inauguration, rebuilding America, recovery, roads, train, transportation, utilities
Posted in Opinion, Urban Development | 1 Comment »