Congresswoman Kathy Castor released the following statement today regarding high speed rail and the upcoming signing of the state’s rail legislation:

“Florida’s high speed rail application was a leading contender already, but the new support shown by the state of Florida for President Obama’s vision will help us be successful in winning the significant high speed rail award. This vital transit initiative will spur new jobs and economic development in Tampa Bay and will connect our major metropolitan areas in a seamless, passenger-friendly system.”

Castor has long been an advocate of high speed rail and mass transit. This week, she is urging the Florida Congressional delegation to sign on to a letter to the Obama administration, reminding it that the state’s high speed rail application is second to none and that the state has taken yet another step in demonstrating its support for high speed rail.

Throughout the year, Castor has had several conversations with President Barack Obama and the administration regarding the strength of Florida’s high speed rail application. In June, in a bipartisan show of support, Castor worked with several members of the Florida Congressional Delegation to send a letter to Transportation Secretary LaHood urging an award to Florida for high speed rail. The letter noted that Florida is ahead of the curve in preparing the state for the next generation of transportation. Florida’s high speed rail initiative has obtained the necessary right-of-way and environmental clearances, and has been in the planning stages for 20 years.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act set aside $8 billion and the Congress supplemented that amount to create jobs and invest in a modern transportation system for America. The Department of Transportation received 45 applications from 24 states totaling approximately $50 billion to advance high-speed rail corridor programs before the October deadline, including high profile proposals from Florida, California, the Northeast Corridor, and a hub of Midwestern states.

Florida’s initial proposal has a $3.5 billion corridor between Tampa and Orlando along I-4 being constructed for an opening by 2014.

During the Obama Administration’s announcement in April, Vice President Joe Biden spoke of the benefits of rail in America:

“[W]e're making a down payment today, a down payment on the economy for tomorrow, the economy that's going to drive us in the 21st century in a way that the other -- the highway system drove us in the mid-20th century.  … With high-speed rail system, we're going to be able to pull people off the road, lowering our dependence on foreign oil, lowering the bill for our gas in our gas tanks.  We're going to loosen the congestion that also has great impact on productivity, I might add, the people sitting at stop lights right now in overcrowded streets and cities.  We're also going to deal with the suffocation that's taking place in our major metropolitan areas as a consequence of that congestion.  And we're going to significantly lessen the damage to our planet. This is a giant environmental down payment.”

Linking high speed rail with other modes of transportation is helpful to the development of the overall system. Therefore, Castor last week secured $1.65 million for HART’s preliminary engineering and planning of a light rail line connecting downtown Tampa, the University of South Florida and the West Shore Business district. The money was included in the fiscal year 2010 appropriations bill, approved by the House and the Senate. In the same legislation, she secured $500,000 so HART could buy new buses and paratransit vans.