Standing on the Platform Watching the High Speed Train go by

The Pittsburgh blog scene has been on fire with posts concerning the flurry of train related news that has popped up in Pittsburgh's media. It's exciting to see all this sudden attention focused both on local commuter rail and on Pittsburgh's piece in the HSR puzzle.

Much has been said about where to go first, Cleveland, Harrisburg, or Washington D.C.? They each bring up good points. (For my two cents, Cleveland would be the easiest first step, and since we're already behind the 8 ball, we should be looking for easy right now).

Where we should go first is not the point of this post however. The purpose of this post is draw attention to the fact that we are, indeed, behind the 8 ball when it comes to HSR. Here's a brief synopsis of where some other programs stand in comparison to the extended "Keystone Corridor"

-California: In addition to having a pretty sweet website, California is first in line for $$$ so says Joe Biden. This surely has to do with the bond issue for $10 billion with a B that was approved last year.

-Florida: The sunshine state has developed a comprehensive rail plan which you can see here. Additionally, they are well ahead of the curve for the myriad of studies that must be undertaken. Several studies including a ridership and cost study were undertaken in 2003 and would just need to be updated. Their application to receive federal funding is also nearly complete.

-Ohio: Ohio has already dedicated $7 million to study HSR. Additionally, they have banded together with 8 other Midwestern states that would have Chicago as a hub in the hopes to increase their chances of securing funding. Multi-state cooperation is said to increase the likelihood of funding.

This is not an all inclusive list, but from this brief list it's easy to see who the front runners are for the money. It doesn't help that apparently the state of Pennsylvania has done....absolutely nothing. Until Mr. Altmire's speech about extending the Keystone Corridor or connecting to Cleveland, no one was so much as speaking about HSR involving Pittsburgh. With an application deadline of August 24th, we are fast running out of time to take advantage of this round of funding. Another $50 billion is slated for further down the road, but the winds of politics could change by the time that money is to be appropriated.

A failure to capitalize on this opportunity would be a failure by the leaders of our region and state. While our local leaders should do all they can to promote and build our transit infrastructure, it is our State and Federal representatives who need to push this forward. So far Jason Altmire is the only one who truly seems committed to making this happen (all while pushing commuter rail in parallel).

Pittsburgh has failed so many other times when we had a chance to better our transportation assets. This time the responsibility does not fall squarely on Pittsburgh's shoulders. It falls on the State and Federal representatives . We do not need to be standing on the platform as Obama's HSR Express flies through without stopping

Trainapalooza

In a town where transit related articles aren't always easy to come by, I got probably a little more excited than I should have to see three separate articles about commuter/HSR relating to Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania. I'll write more (especially about the HSR entries) in a later post, but just to get them all out there, here they are in no particular order:

Commuter Rail: In an apparent reversal from a previous article in the Post Gazette, the Greensburg line is apparently not dead. Additionally, the costs estimates came back less than expected(sweet). I'm still not sure how many more studies must be taken but at $208 million, these lines look like a steal (Thank you existing infrastructure). Also, for anyone interested, public comment will be held June 29th in Greensburg, and June 30th in New Ken. Hours for both are 6-9 PM.

HSR:
The Pittsburgh to Cleveland Connection: It's been stated by other bloggers that it would make better sense for Pittsburgh to connect to Cleveland (and Chicago) before it connects across the state to Philadelphia and Harrisburg. I for one, agree, and apparently so does Jason Altmire. In a meeting yesterday he said that a link between Pittsburgh and Cleveland is a "missing link" to Obama's proposed HSR system. Apparently, a connection between the two cities would be eligible for funding... however, before they can think about any corridor, they must begin to work on it. Leading us to our third trainapalooza article...

A slow start to HSR: California and several other corridors have a jump start on us for HSR funding. Although Philly to Pittsburgh has been designated an HSR corridor, that's about the only thing that has happened. Jason Altmire wants to take steps forward to begin working towards HSR corridors to and through Pittsburgh, although no concrete steps have been outlined.

Not In My Back Yard!

I was reading an article @ Mass Transit News' website and stumbled across an article about how California's planned HSR (High Speed Rail) corridor to San Fransisco is under fire from some of the people it is designed to serve....damn NIMBY's.

When I rant, I generally try to at least have a positive conclusion, or a solution instead of just talking about the problem with no answers. This time, a good old fashioned rant is what is in order. Let's just put things in perspective here for a minute. President Obama has initiated transportation funding the likes of which hasn't been seen in decades (if ever). California has been able to see a HUGE chunk of that money ($8 Billion). Other states would KILL for that much stimulus money to launch their own projects. The scale of this project is unprecedented, and will be a GIANT leap forward in developing our national transportation infrastructure. The project can provide a competitive and sustainable alternative to Californians who feel their only efficient travel options right now are cars or planes.

Apparently, just about everybody in California was on board for the project. Then...somebody made the HUGE mental leap that the right-of-way was going to have to go somewhere, and that somewhere was going to be near some homes. These homeowners people quickly forgot about all the benefits of the project and suddenly became the worst kind of people in my book, selfish Americans. A very specific kind of Selfish American, the NIMBY*.

The NIMBY is, in my mind, the greatest roadblock to progress in America. No public improvement can be made without a NIMBY raising a stink and using various arguments including my personal favorite: "I don't care about the greater good, what about my property value?"

Through years of exhaustive research I've been able to isolate two types of NIMBY:

The Direct NIMBY, and Indirect NIMBY.

The direct NIMBY is someone who would be more directly affected by a project, for example, a new light rail line that goes through their neighborhood and they do not want the construction hassle and noise associated with this new development A direct NIMBY is more the out of sight, out of mind, as long as the project doesn't immediately disrupt their happy little bubble, they will generally not complain too much about a project.

The indirect NIMBY is generally the more hard line of the two. The indirect NIMBY does not wish to expend any effort (including financial effort) to support any sort of project. Meaning, even if this new light rail line does not come within miles of the indirect NIMBY's house, this NIMBY is against it because they do not like light rail, and they see public money, and in turn their own money going to support this project, and that is just not right in their mind!

Of course, this posting is a pleasant mix of sarcasm , humor, and a dash of truth. Don't lose sight of the message , however. We as a nation are presented with a great opportunity, I can only hope we don't squander this opportunity for the greater good by bowing of the demands of a very vocal, and selfish minority.

*Disclaimer: I'm not ignorant to the fact that the government can screw people when working on projects that will require construction on or near some one's property. From a personal perspective, I have a co-worker who had the town she lived in offer her $1.00 (that's right, a dollar) for property damage associated with digging a new sewer line through her property. That's not where my concerns lie with property owners; I understand the concept of fairness. My concerns lie with people who really won't be losing that much (maybe they have to deal with a little more noise, or maybe their pretty views from the back deck will be obstructed) but are willing to hold up a huge project whose benefits for the greater good well outweigh the inconvenience to the minority.