Industry News

AAR Comments on Possible Economic Stimulus Package

November 10, 2008 | 03:25 p.m. CST

In comments submitted to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure following an October 29 hearing, Association of American Railroads' (AAR) President and CEO Ed Hamberger stressed the importance of rail infrastructure investment in any post-election economic stimulus package.

The Transportation and Infrastructure hearing was one of a number of hearings in the House scheduled to address a post-election stimulus package and what it might include. The hearing examined how infrastructure investment contributes to job creation and economic recovery across highways, bridges, public transportation, rail, aviation, ports and waterways.

Hamberger, in comments submitted for the record, noted that the nation cannot prosper in an increasingly-competitive global marketplace if freight railroads cannot meet growing transportation needs. Union Pacific agrees with the industry that adequate rail capacity is critical to meeting this challenge.

U.S. Department of Transportation forecasts that the demand for freight rail transportation will rise 88 percent by 2035 from 2002 levels. A recent study by Cambridge Systematics, a prominent transportation consulting firm, concluded that if rail capacity needs are not properly addressed that the entire U.S. freight rail system could become gridlocked.

Hamberger stressed that increased rail investment leads to increased employment, noting that railroads have hired and trained thousands of new employees adding nearly 11,000 employees since 2003.

"Policymakers have crucial roles to play," Hamberger wrote. "Tax incentives for infrastructure investments that expand rail capacity, implementing more public-private partnerships for rail infrastructure projects, and rejecting attempts to re-regulate railroads would help ensure that adequate rail capacity exists to meet America's future transportation needs."