High-Speed Rail - Obama's Missed Opportunity

At the beginning of Obama's presidency, Obama was forced to face one of the largest recessions since the 1930's.  According to Bloomberg, the world's largest economy shrank 4.1% from the fourth quarter of 2007 to the second quarter of 2009.  Based on the condition of America at the time, and the overwhelming support that American's gave him during his transition into the presidency, Obama had the opportunity to rally America around high-speed rail in the same way that Kennedy rallied the country around the Space Program. Unfortunately, Obama decided to focus on "shovel ready" projects lead by local leaders and the Affordable Healthcare Act.

Obama was correct in arguing the need for a stimulus.  Anytime there is a regression in consumer spending, it is important that the government step in to jump start the economy.  Where Obama missed is in focusing on a multitude of local "shovel ready projects," instead of focusing on a project that would create thousands of jobs around the country building the infrastructure, help to jumpstart the Detroit auto-economy by transitioning those car companies into high-speed rail companies, and create an unparalleled amount of commutability for job seekers, while increasing America's national security by dramatically reducing our dependency on foreign oil.  

It is important when asking for stimulus for a national project to be clear about the benefits. When Eisenhower proposed the interstate system and when Kennedy challenged America to put a man on the moon, there were clear benefits and incentives for the American people.  So, you are probably wondering, what are the benefits of high-speed rail.  According to the Environmental Law and Policy Center, there are 3 key benefits:

1. The ELPC predicts that as our country transitions to high-speed rail and we depend less on automobiles and planes for primary travel we will see a decline in the type of pollution that causes global warming and harms public health.
2. There is a direct value to improved economic mobility.  We would see a value of 13.2 billion dollars in improved economic mobility.  Americans would be able to travel from downtown to downtown in about the same timeframe as a flight, at a fraction of the cost.
3. This would spur jobs and economic growth.  As an example, by adding high-speed rail to the City of Chicago, it would have the economic impact equivalent to a medium-sized airport right in the heart of the city.

Aside from the obvious value that high-speed rail brings to the American economy, it would have also given Obama a set of SMART goals to measure the success of the application of the stimulus money.  By demonstrating success in implementing a high-speed rail program at the outset of his first term, and leveraging the good will that he had as he entered the presidency, Obama could have made a much stronger case around health care reform, even pushing for a single payer system that our country so desperately needs, or other important programs and reforms.  By missing out on the opportunity to push high-speed rail to the level that it should have been, Obama missed out on a really important domestic program that could have completely transformed our country.