Why Michigan Got a Tiny Slice of the High Speed Rail Pie
Sunday, February 14, 2010 at 6:20PM In theory, no state should have had a stronger case than Michigan’s for securing a large portion of the Obama Administration’s recently unveiled grants for high-speed rail. In reality, the state with the nation’s highest unemployment rate whose high speed line would link directly to the President’s home town received $40 million out of a total of $8 billion allocated for the program – that’s one-half of one percent for those keeping score at home. What happened? I have a hunch that despite what would seemed to be compelling political reasons for making a large high-profile investment in a state that some are putting into the swing column in the next presidential election, the Administration’s planners saw more risk than reward in betting on Michigan’s transit future. Given Lansing’s failure thus far to create a regional authority in Detroit to even administer federal transit grants, it’s hard to imagine that the USDOT was itching to spend big in the Great Lakes State.
In a blog last April I cited a Citizens Research Council study which found that in 2008 Michigan ranked 45th in per-capital federal funding. It was clear then that President Obama’s stated intention to give priority to metropolitan areas that demonstrate a commitment to collaborate across city lines would mean that Michigan, and metro Detroit, could potentially leave a lot of desperately needed federal money on the table unless we got our act together. We didn’t, and now hundreds of millions in transportation funds will help speed people from Tampa to Disney World instead of Detroit to Chicago. We can and must do better and that’s why I want to establish a Southeast Michigan Caucus in the Michigan Legislature that will bring together state lawmakers from our region to take action on an aggressive agenda to create jobs in metro Detroit and finally position us to secure the federal support our residents deserve and our economy desperately needs.
Detroit Free Press Article on $40 Million for Michigan
Reader Comments (2)
Interesting post. Good for perspective. I personally like the fact that the meters are in place. It encourages people to be conscious about the use of parking, which makes for a better experience when going into downtown
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