NCSL High-Speed Rail Public Hearing

Spring Forum 2010: April 9, 2010

The NCSL High-Speed Rail Working Group conducted a high-speed rail public hearing on April 9, 2010, at NCSL's Spring Forum meeting in Washington, D.C. As part of its policy development process, the working group invited testimony from several high-profile federal, state and private sector rail experts and stakeholders. This page provides audio recordings of the hearing, a hearing summary, written testimony and other supporting materials.

Formed in late 2009 and co-chaired by Senator Malcolm Smith (N.Y.) and Senator Dennis Nolan (Nev.), the working group provides a forum for state legislators and legislative staff to exchange ideas on the development, financing and implementation of high-speed rail. In addition, this group has been charged with further developing NCSL’s state-federal policy on high-speed rail.

For more information about the hearing or the NCSL Transportation Committee’s Working Group on High-Speed Rail, please contact Molly Ramsdell or Jaime Rall.

* All written materials on this page are in PDF format.  To view PDF files, you must install Adobe Acrobat Reader. *

Full Audio Recording

Running time: 02:50:50

Hearing Summary (8 pages): Download PDF

Welcome and Opening Comments

• Audio recording

Senator D. Scott Dibble, Minnesota, Chair of the NCSL Standing Committee on Transportation

Senator Dennis Nolan, Nevada, Co-Chair of the High-Speed Rail Working Group

Senator Malcolm Smith, New York, Co-Chair of the High-Speed Rail Working Group  

Testimony: U.S. Department of Transportation

Polly Trottenberg, Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy, U.S. Department of Transportation

• Audio Recording
• Written Testimony

Testimony: Congressional Research Service 

D. Randall Peterman, Transportation Analyst, Congressional Research Service

• Audio recording
• High Speed Rail (HSR) in the United States (CRS Report for Congress, Dec. 2009)

Testimony: Amtrak

Frances Bourne, Director—Intergovernmental Relations, Government Affairs, Amtrak 

• Audio Recording
• Amtrak in a New Era (PowerPoint, April 2010)

Testimony: Panel No. 1

• Audio Recording

Leo Penne, Program Director for Intermodal and Industry Activities, American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) 

• AASHTO Standing Committee on Rail Transportation (includes AASHTO Passenger Rail Policy)
• Achieving the Vision: Intercity Passenger Rail (May 2009) 
• AASHTO’s Authorization Recommendations: High Speed and Intercity Passenger Rail (Updated 2010) 

Art Guzzetti, Vice President—Policy, American Public Transportation Association (APTA)

Jennifer Macdonald, Assistant Vice President of Government Affairs, Association of American Railroads

• Written Testimony

Dwayne Sampson, President—New York Chapter, Conference Of Minority Transportation Officials (COMTO) 

• Written Testimony
• "The Missouri Model": Job Creation and Small Business Sustainability (March 2010, DVD available upon request from COMTO)

Testimony: Panel No. 2

• Audio Recording

Randal O'Toole, Senior Fellow, Cato Institute

• High-Speed Rail Is Not “Interstate 2.0” (Cato Institute Briefing Paper, Sept. 2009)

Robert Puentes, Senior Fellow and Director, Metropolitan Infrastructure Initiative, Metropolitan Policy Program, Brookings Institution

• Written Testimony
• Intermetropolitan Passenger Rail: Considerations for State Legislators (April 2010)

Petra Todorovich, Director, America 2050

• Written Testimony
• Where High-Speed Rail Works Best (Sept. 2009)

Robert Poole, Director of Transportation Policy, Reason Foundation

• Written Testimony
• Getting There Greener: A Guide to Your Lower Carbon Vacation (Union of Concerned Scientists report, 2008)

Testimony: Panel No. 3

• Audio Recording 

Deb Warner, Vice President—Public Policy and Government Relations, Greater Syracuse Chamber of Commerce, representing the High-Speed Rail Coalition of New York 

Thomas Hart, Vice President—Government Affairs and General Counsel, U.S. High-Speed Rail Association

Closing Remarks

• Audio Recording

Senator Dennis Nolan, Nevada, Co-Chair of the High-Speed Rail Working Group

Senator Malcolm Smith, New York, Co-Chair of the High-Speed Rail Working Group 

Materials Submitted by Those Unable to Attend in Person

C. Kenneth Orski, Editor/Publisher, Innovation NewsBriefs

• Weighing the Future of High-Speed Rail in America (Oct. 2009)

Last Updated June 3, 2010