Invest in Passenger Rail

Kevin Brubaker, Deputy Director of the Environmental Law and Policy Center, and Iowa’s Department of Transportation Director Tami Nicholson briefed Iowa legislators last month about the benefits of investing in passenger rail...

An initial investment of $3 million in passenger rail service could leverage $12 million in federal aid for Iowa and create a valuable link between Chicago, the Quad Cities and other Midwest cities.

There are so many possibilities for Iowa when it comes to rail from expanding passenger rail to Iowa City and Dubuque to connect those cities to Chicago, to light rail in the Iowa City/Cedar Rapids corridor and in the Des Moines and Ames area.

It seems with minimal investment in rail, great improvements can be made. Compare this to the approximately $500 million dollars that would be needed to make Highway 20 4 lane across the state.