From sprawling suburbs spreading from Washington DC to densely populated cities in New York, Chicago, Houston, and LA; towns and cities across the country are facing a crisis. 

One in which commuters, tourists, and everyday Americans are spending hours on the road in five and six of traffic every day. As the population has grown, so has the number of roads as well as the push to widen lanes and sadly the number of car accidents and fatalities.

America has a golden opportunity to build on new rail networks in Florida and California to ignite a revolution in public transit and connect the country while making travel faster and safer.

A Starting Point:

The East Coast in particular is a prime example to ignite a transformation of transportation and passenger rail service. The state of Virginia, and likewise the country, need to build and fast track the joint construction of reliable and smooth high-speed rail and regional/local train networks.

All too often, maintaining, upgrading, and building new infrastructure in the U.S. has taken a back seat. Where once our highway system was the envy of the world, today it is a source of frustration amid constant widening of lanes and traffic jams. 

A Starting Point:

In contrast to relying on highways, high-speed trains traveling at least 150 mph or over 200 could connect the country’s largest cities from New York to Atlanta/Chicago as well as Florida to Washington. Passengers at these high-speed stations could be connected to regional and local commuter rail as well as buses and rental cars. 

The system would resemble high-speed trains that can be found in Japan, Italy, and throughout Europe. This would give Americans more options and choices to get where they are going faster and safer than ever before.

The Problem: 

Right now passenger trains such as Amtrak are plagued by delays due to freight companies owning most of the tracks, slowing down for railroad crossings, aging infrastructure coupled with old tracks not designed for high-speed rail, and numerous stops that make arriving on time difficult and delays more common. 

Even though some trains such as Amtrak’s Acela are rated to go over 100 mph, that is only their top speed which is further limited due to curves and tracks that aren’t built for these speeds. This means that the average speed is often far below 100 and results in longer travel times and delays - making the service unreliable.

Benefits of Transforming Public Transit:

While the cost to improve and upgrade existing tracks plus building out this network would be high, the transformation would mean much less time stuck in bumper to bumper traffic or hours driving on the road. Freeing up America's roads would not only mean faster travel than ever before, but also fewer car accidents and fatalities - saving lives while also improving travel times.

Over decades, we have as a country poured money into highways, bridges, and roads to connect our cities and enlarge our communities. As more Americans take to the roads, we have built new roads and widened existing ones. Today, we are plagued by traffic jams that make travel slower - not faster. 

This vision doesn’t have to take decades, it just needs the will of the American people, public officials, and the financial backing to see it through.

Call to Action: 

We are partitioning the federal government: including members of Congress, the DOT, as well as governors and legislatures in states across the country to fund, ignite and fast track a revolution in public transit over the next decade.