OSPIRG hosted an informative panel Thursday evening at the University of Oregon John E. Jaqua Academic Center for Student Athletes to discuss the advantages and challenges of bringing high-speed trains to Eugene and the state of Oregon in general.
The four-person panel consisted of Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy, OSPIRG Field Organizer Jenn Lavelle, University planning and public policy management professor Robert Young and OSPIRG High-Speed Rail Education Coordinator Frank Yen.
The event began with a slideshow presentation portraying the effectiveness of high-speed rails in other countries, and quickly flew into a question-and-answer session for those in attendance. The panelists agreed that while there is still much a great deal of work that needs to be done in order to make the high-speed rail vision a reality, the need and pay-off for such revolutionary transportation is even greater.
“There are a lot of reasons why we need to bring a higher-speed rail to Oregon,” Lavelle said. “The population in the Willamette Valley between Eugene and Portland is expected to grow by a million people in the next 20 years, which is about a third of the population right now. With the current transportation system, we just don’t have the capacity to handle those additional people.”
Panelists also touched on the positive effect that a high-speed rail system would have on the environment through the reduction of fossil fuel use. In addition, although the construction of the high-speed rail would cost approximately $2 billion, the transportation layout would save the state more than $20 billion, according to estimates from Oregon Department of Transportation.
The event touched on the history of transportation in Oregon, and how, at the onset of the 20th century, the state was considered one of the best places in the country for electric rail. This changed, however, following the rapid growth of the automotive industry.
“There was a time when I was a kid that six out of every 10 employed people in the United States were somehow associated with the automobile industry,” Young said. “Light rail and freight rail was all there in the past, but we lost it.”
Still, Oregon has begun to take steps in the direction toward creating a high-speed rail network. For example, House Bill 2860, sponsored by State Rep. Nancy Nathanson, is currently moving through Congress and would create a Rail Advisory Council to study the development of a bi-state rail authority between Oregon and Washington, one that could ultimately implement the construction of a high-speed rail.
The bill is a small development, but is significant in that it would help tie the future of Oregon’s rail system to Washington’s, whose rail system is far better funded through federal dollars. More importantly, it’s a sign that interest for high-speed rail may be growing in the state legislature, and may eventually bring bullet trains to the steps of the Eugene Depot.
“Who knows, we could become known as Track Town for a completely different reason,” Young said.
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High-speed rail could be an effective reality, panel argues
Daily Emerald
February 17, 2011
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