By Ron Thaniel
July 19, 2010

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer and Albany Mayor Gerald D. Jennings briefed Congressional Members on the Conference of Mayors’ groundbreaking study on The Economic Impact of High'speed Rail on Cities and their Metropolitan Areas during a June 30 special briefing hosted by House Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials Chair Corrine Brown (FL), and House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Ranking Member John Mica (FL).

The mayors made the case for dedicated federal funding for high'speed intercity passenger rail in the pending authorization of the federal surface transportation law. Mica told the mayors that he is committed to a high'speed rail program in the next transportation bill, which matched Brown’s and House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chair James L. Oberstar’s prior commitments that they are supportive of creating a high'speed rail program in the pending transportation authorization.

Joined by Stephen Fitzroy, Director of Operations with the Economic Development Research Group, Inc., the mayors presented the findings of the study, which examined job creation, the effects of improved market access, greater connectivity, travel time savings, as well as increased income and business sales. Study findings show that high'speed rail in the U.S. could significantly increase jobs and business sales if fully implemented as planned by 2035. Higher potential impacts were noted when travel times between cities were reduced to less than three hours.

The report, prepared by the Economic Development Research Group and sponsored by Siemens, is available at usmayors.org/highspeedrail.