Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) said Thursday his plan to invest more than $1 trillion over the next five years to build a high-speed rail network would create more than 2.6 million jobs and make high-speed rail a competitive option for travel.
The plan would require a $205 billion investment each year over the next five years, Moulton said, and would help boost the economy in light of the economic downturn caused by COVID-19. In his 30-page white paper, Moulton called for investing $41 billion annually in high-speed and higher-speed rail through Federal Railroad Administration grants, with an incentive for $38 billion or more in nonfederal funding; expanding the metrics cities and states use for transportation planning to include economic benefits; creating funding flexibility and transit-oriented development incentives for nonfederal partners, including state and local transportation departments and private partners; and developing more comprehensive safety regulations and standards for high-speed rail to reduce costs and expedite development.
Moulton said the plan would not only provide Americans with better connected “mega-regions” but would also increase productivity and global competitiveness. The rail plan would also reduce strain on highways and aviation networks while providing a clean, reliable, and safe mode of transportation between city centers. Additionally, the rail plan would increase national security and exports by making the United States less dependent on imported fuels, while making the country more competitive with China in its use of high-speed rail.
“…We have to demand more—faster, nicer, better—than we ever have before. Our city’s economy requires it. Our city’s social fabric demands it. It is how we meet the demands of the new economy and unite the Commonwealth in the process,” Moulton said in a speech in November to the New England Council that focused on rail in his region. “A foundational American principle is that we’re all in this together. Imagine if that were truly the case for how we travel around the region—we would all be invested in making it better; we would all be invested in each other…In the 21st century, we’ve led on innovation in biotech, though Beijing is catching up; we’ve led on health care in America, though we only rank 37th in the world; we’ve led on equality, despite Trump’s efforts to undo it. Let us once again be a model for the country on transportation as well.”