Video
Listen to Senator Durbin's views
on:
Agriculture
Appropriations
Education
Enron
Environment
Higher
Education
O'Hare
Airport
Police
Officers
Prescription
Drugs
Terrorism
Tobacco
Unemployment
©
2002 Friends of Dick Durbin. All Rights Reserved.
Web site designed by Campaign
Advisory Corporation
| Transportation
I believe safe, uncongested and affordable transportation is an integral component of economic prosperity in our state. I have tried to bring communities together to think regionally to build transportation hubs. To that end, I have worked through my seat on the Senate Appropriations Committee to increase federal funding for our state's public transit systems, from the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) and METRA in the Chicagoland area to Metro Link in southern Illinois, and for bus service throughout Illinois. I will continue to encourage the U.S. Department of Transportation to fully fund CTA and METRA expansion projects while working with the State of Illinois, City of Chicago, Regional Transportation Authority, and local communities to ensure that public transit systems have the resources necessary to provide meaningful service. For many people, public transit is an essential service, providing critical access to work, school, shopping, health care, and other services. I have been a leader in the fight to preserve Amtrak as our national passenger rail service and have fought all attempts to divide up Amtrak services among small private rail companies. I believe that Congress largely contributed to Amtrak's current financial mess because it failed to provide a clear and potentially successful mission for Amtrak operations. Congress cannot expect Amtrak to serve small, isolated communities with little passenger traffic and turn a profit at the same time. The U.S. government spends $300 billion per year on highway travel, $50 billion per year on air travel and only $500 million per year on passenger rail service. All aspects of transportation receive government subsidy in order to provide the best quality service to the greatest number of people. Why should Amtrak be held to a different standard? I believe we need to bring Amtrak operations into the future, and have cosponsored legislation to support high-speed rail service and several upgrades for Amtrak tunnels and bridges. With the right capital investment and a mission that makes sense, Amtrak can continue to serve as the nation's passenger rail service provider. As a member of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on transportation, I supported the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st century in 1998, which provided $25 million for the Stevenson Expressway, $25 million for Chicago's Wacker Drive rehabilitation project and $3.5 million for the Museum Campus Trolleys in Chicago. I continued to support the Stevenson project by working for an additional $3.8 million appropriation in fiscal year 2000 and again in 2001. I helped to support the extensive Wacker Drive project through another $6 million appropriation in fiscal years 2001 and 2002. I helped to secure $5.6 million in fiscal year 2001 and $2 million in fiscal year 2002 for the I-74 Mississippi River Crossing Capacity Expansion in Moline and the Quad Cities. In the fiscal year 2002 appropriations bill, I worked to secure $1.1 million to complete an environmental review and preliminary design and engineering for the Freeport bypass on Highway 20 in Northwestern Illinois. |
SENATOR DICK DURBIN'S LEGISLATIVE
AGENDA |