City looks to speed up NJ rail line project

In this time of economic hardship, one proposal to help reduce pollution and traffic while creating millions of jobs could aid to solve problems in New Jersey.
New Brunswick Mayor Jim Cahill and representatives of the New Jersey Public Interest Research Group met in front of New Brunswick Station Tuesday morning to explain what a new, high-speed rail system will do for New Jersey and the country.
“If we’re going to spend money, why not spend it on the creation of jobs, becoming less oil-dependent and a sustainable future for the state of New Jersey and for the United States?” Cahill said. “The severe cost of not doing this project is the severe cost of paying for environmental concerns.”
President Barack Obama last month granted New Jersey $38.5 million in high-speed rail funds — an amount that is part of $8 billion in funding allocated for planning and building high-speed rail systems in 31 states under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, according to an NJPIRG press release.
Rebecca Alper, program associate at NJPIRG, said the high-speed rail network system would put people to work and cut energy consumption.
“Just the task of building out the high-speed rail system is estimated to create 1.6 million construction jobs,” she said. “It will curve traffic congestion, reducing car travel by 29 million car trips and air travel by half a million flights.”
The system will help the environment as well, as less people will drive vehicles, Alper said.
“A complete, high-speed rail network will reduce global warming pollution by six billion pounds,” she said. “That’s the equivalent of taking nearly half a million cars off the road.”
Cahill also saw the benefits to the environment.
“The better we make mass transit, the more people are likely to use it. The more people use it, the more they’re out of their cars,” he said.
School of Arts and Sciences senior Katie Hubschmitt brought up another problem the new rail system may help solve — traffic.
“I think the high-speed rail system is such an awesome idea, because you can get to places so much quicker,” she said. “Instead of using our cars, we can get out of all the congestion we always have in New Jersey.”
The largest sector of New Jersey’s carbon footprint is due to transportation, so a reduction in congestion is essential to cleaner air, said New Jersey Future Policy Analyst Jay Corbalis.
“Nowhere in the United States would an integrated high speed rail network be more beneficial than in the northeast,” said Pamela Yuen, a representative for Congressman Frank Pallone, D-6.
With the development and renovations, transportation to and from the Northeast Corridor will get better, Cahill said.
“Compared to the rest of the state and county, we continue to lead here in the city of New Brunswick, which shows that smart growth … makes this not only a destination for people to want to work and to have recreation opportunities but also a place to live,” he said.
It will take some time to complete the development of the new rail system, Alper said.
“We have to remember that it took decades of investment just to build the interstate highway system,” she said. “Likewise, we need our leaders to commit at the state, local and federal levels … in order to complete the high speed rail system.”
The funds coming from the Obama administration for the new system will also help the transit system New Jersey already has.
“The high-speed rail funds will go to both developing these high-speed bullet trains as well as bringing old infrastructure in slower routes up to speed,” Alper said.

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