High Speed Rail in the USA - Brad Perkins, Pres & CEO of Cascadia High Speed Rail LLC
Channel: Coalition for a National Infrastructure Bank
Date: 2021-06-15

For more information:  https://cascadiahighspeedrail.com
For information on the National Infrastructure Bank:  https://nibcoalition.com

Brad Perkins, president and CEO of Cascadia High Speed Rail LLC gives Americans a choice:  do we want to continue to be frustrated, stuck in traffic jams on overcrowded freeways, or do we want a better way?  

The better way is high speed rail.  Mr. Perkins gives an overview of the route in the northwest corner of the USA, from Eugene, OR to Vancouver.  

He also makes the case for high speed rail more broadly.  For trips that are 100 to 1000 miles long, high speed rail is far more fuel-efficient, far better for the environment, and faster and more pleasant than car or airplane.  

The rest of the world is passing us by.  Mr. Perkins gives the example of Japan - they spend $115 Billion dollars per year on high speed rail.  They  will have 40,000 miles of high speed train track laid by 2028.  

How many miles of high speed rail does the USA have?  Zero.

It's time to change this!  

As Mr. Perkins points out, the current Biden plan for infrastructure provides $25 Billion for high speed rail.  That would be enough to build this corridor in the northwest part of the US - but what about the rest of the country?  We need $1 Trillion for high speed rail to create a nationwide system.  

The National Infrastructure Bank (NIB) is the way to do it.  The NIB, as proposed in H.R. 3339 (the "National Infrastructure Bank Act of 2021"), creates $5 Trillion in funding for infrastructure of all kinds, and sufficient funding to create a nationwide system of high speed rail.  

And it does this without increasing the deficit, or raising taxes!  (Not only is this possible, it's been done four times before in U.S. history!)

For more information on the NIB:
https://nibcoalition.com