by Jbs020510 h3 — February 8, 2010—President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden announced on January 28 that the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) is awarding $8 billion in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to 31 states across the country to develop the nation’s first high-speed rail service that will allow passengers to travel quickly between major cities.
The awards are a down payment on developing or laying the groundwork for 13 new high-speed rail corridors (.pdf file) across the country, according to a summary from the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE).
The majority of the funding will go toward developing large-scale, high-speed rail programs. For example, Florida is receiving up to $1.25 billion to develop a new rail corridor between Tampa and Orlando, with trains running up to 168 mph, while California is receiving up to $2.25 billion for its project to connect Los Angeles to San Francisco with trains running up to 220 mph.
DOT is also proposing an additional $1 billion for high-speed rail in the fiscal year 2011 budget, as part of a five-year plan to add $1 billion annually to the initiative.
