“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,
it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness,
it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity,
it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness,
it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair,
we had everything before us, we had nothing before us…“
I. Investing for the future….
Chairman John Olver (D-MA) of the House transportation appropriations subcommittee on July 23rd during the DOT FY 2010 funding debate, extolling the $4,000,000,000 contained in the bill for high speed and passenger rail: ” …the high speed rail program for combined high-speed rand intercity passenger rail …is the most imporant transportation initiative since the Eisenhower Interstate Highway System, the National Defense Highway System of 50 years ago…”
II. Disinvesting in the present…
Caption: “FALLING APART – Replacing the Pulaski Skyway in North Jersey, which is in dangerous disrepair, would cost an estimated $1.2 billion.” “A June study by the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials ranked road conditions in New York, Connecticut and New Jersey 43rd, 44th and 50th, respectively, among the states.” … David Kocieniewski, NYTimes, July 24
MTS Matters 
Nicely done Paul. Hopefully the next reauthorization and other legislation will permit this nation to assess national needs and invest user fees and general fund monies accordingly. One good sign is the movement (albeit slow) to fund intermodal projects and increase the use of discretionary funding.
You are right. A lot is riding on how well the TIGER grant is implemented. Pbea
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