Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008
PASSENGER RAIL INVESTMENT AND IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2008 -- (House of Representatives - June 11, 2008)
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Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Chairman, let me express my appreciation to the gentleman from Florida for the time.
At the outset, I would like also to express my congratulations to our chairman, Mr. Oberstar, and Rail Subcommittee Chairwoman Brown of Florida for their good works on the bill and also the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Shuster) and the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Mica). It is a good bill that will have an immediate impact on improving the mobility of Americans all across the country.
I would particularly like to thank Chairman Oberstar and Chairwoman Brown for working with me to include a provision that requests the Secretary to examine the feasibility of expanding the South Central Rail Corridor to Houston, Texas.
Passenger rail lowers American fuel consumption because it's more energy efficient than both cars and airplanes. Intercity passenger rail consumes 21 percent less energy per passenger mile than automobiles and 17 percent less energy per passenger mile than airlines. Passenger rail also reduces global warming because it cuts in half the carbon dioxide impact per passenger over cars and airplanes, meaning that expanding passenger rail will reduce global warming.
The average intercity passenger rail train produces 60 percent lower carbon dioxide emissions per passenger mile than the average automobile and 50 percent lower emissions than the average airplane. This bill is not only good energy policy, it is also good transportation policy. Intercity passenger rail is an increasingly necessary alternative to highway and air travel, as congestion grows in many regions of the country. For example, Amtrak removes 8 million cars from the road each year.
At a time when gas prices continue to skyrocket, the demand by commuters and other travelers for cost-efficient public transportation systems, including passenger rail, is growing rapidly. This critical bill will help meet this growing need.
I urge my colleagues to support this sound bipartisan piece of legislation.
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