I have a quick question/thought. Does Kasich’s promise/threat to kill the 3C rail corridor mean Ohio will be pulling out of the Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Commission? Wisconsin too?
The Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Commission (MIPRC) brings together state leaders from across the region to advocate for passenger rail improvements. Formed by compact agreement in 2000, the MIPRC’s current members are Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio and Wisconsin.
The main purposes of the compact are to promote, coordinate and support regional improvements to passenger rail service:
- Promote both current improvements and long-range plans for intercity passenger rail service in the Midwest.
- Coordinate interaction among Midwestern state officials, and between the public and private sector at all levels (federal, state and local).
- Support current state efforts being conducted through state DOTs.
These segments being canceled really throws a wrench in regional and national plans for an interconnected network of trains. What if some states had decided to opt out of the interstate highway system?
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Kasich and his rhetoric make my blood boil. So he doesn’t want to spend $17 million a year (about right?) on sustaining the 3C passenger rail, but he wants to direct the federal funds to road projects. First, what a socialist! Second, the operating budget of that endeavor is so small compared to the millions and millions spent on comparatively small highway interchange projects (Isn’t the I-71 split project to cost near a billion dollars?). It just sickens me. I suspect he sees this logic, but thinks being anti-rail is the more popular position. A more paranoid person might begin to suspect that Republicans hate rail projects because it doesn’t serve the interests of making the rich richer.
“Don’t worry,” says Secretary LaHood. “We’ll build a Midwest high speed rail network to your west and connect Pennsylvania and New York to the Northeast Corridor to your east. Most people won’t even notice that Ohio exists, which is good since there’s not many reasons to visit there anyway.”
http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2011/02/ohios_exclusion_wont_harm_new.html
Note: Those aren’t actual quotes. I’m reading between the lines.