Q & A: Isakson talks about high speed rail proposal

In the midst of a faltering economy and a transportation funding crisis, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) is planning to introduce what appears to be a major rail initiative, and Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) is preparing to join him.

The idea is to finance an interstate high-speed rail network that could serve as the spine for local transit lines. Saying the current system is “broken,” Isakson advocates treating rail just as the government treats airports: The government builds the airports, and the airplanes that ferry passengers are private.

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RICK MCKAY / Cox Washington Bureau

Saying the current system is ‘broken,’ Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) plans to join Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) in support of the High Speed Rail for America Act to help finance an interstate rail network.

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Kerry’s office wouldn’t answer questions about the measure, dubbed the High Speed Rail for America Act, but a letter he sent to colleagues talks big: “$200 million per year in grants, $8 billion in tax-exempt bonds, $10 billion in tax-credit bonds for high-speed intercity rail facilities, and $5.4 billion in tax-credit bonds for rail infrastructure.”

We talked to Isakson about the idea.

Q: Tell us about the initiative.

A: I have been very interested in the possibility of a high-speed rail line from Birmingham to Washington [through Atlanta], very similar to the line from Boston to Washington that exists today. It’s … a corridor that has a great deal of congestion on the interstates like I-85, and it’s a great way to travel. … But I know the big deal with rail is being able to get the capital together at the beginning to put in the infrastructure to put in lines like that line. Sen. Kerry’s bill focuses on raising capital. … Given the fact we’ve gone through the difficulties that we have on energy, the price of gasoline, the limited supply of oil, it makes an awful lot of sense looking to the future to make investments in those types of transportation systems that will meet our needs as the 21st century unfolds.

Q: How big is what you’re proposing?

A: I don’t want you to go off on some track that I’ve got some grandiose plan for the world in terms of rail. … Kerry’s introducing legislation that deals with the funding of rail infrastructure, which from my interest, that goes back to the Birmingham to Washington run.

Q: If Kerry came out with this kind of more grandiose, much, much larger system idea, would you be inclined to support it?

A: I support creating the financing mechanism to reinvigorate rail in the United States of America and to focus on the things I’ve repeated myself on. … If that’s a part of the Kerry legislation, yes I can. And it is.

Q: Do you support government funding, tax funding, of both those slower lines and high-speed rail?

A: Well, I think that all transportation ought to be a function based on user fees. Aviation does it with a passenger facility charge, ports do it with the docking fees at the ports, highways do it with motor fuel tax.

Q: Why should government be involved in this at all? If it’s really worth doing, won’t market forces lead private enterprise to make it happen?

A: Sometimes you have to make the investment in the hub if you will, like aviation, or in the spine, like in the line from Boston to New York, to then make the rest of the system viable. And, again, I don’t think general taxpayer subsidies make sense in transportation … it’s a user investment in the system they are using in turn to make an income.

Q: So one of your theories would be that if it were a more comprehensive system that would do more for the customer, that there might be more customers willing?

A: Absolutely.

Q: What can rail do for the individual passenger that other modes can’t do?

A: It can provide convenience. For me, when I go from Washington to New York or Boston, I go on the train and not on the plane because it’s faster and I can get more work done.

Q: The U.S. economy hasn’t been in such bad shape for years. Is it a little strange to be talking such an ambitious project that would cost so much at this moment?

A: The economy’s struggling now in part because of the high cost of fuel, because of the high cost of commodities, and that rolls right back into the whole transportation issue. I mean if you can reduce your dependence on oil, then the demand goes down so the price goes down.

Q: And what kind of chance do you think this all has?

A: This is the very beginning of a long process.