Growth at 250 Miles Per Hour

What if you could leave town at 250 miles an hour?  The vision is captivating mayors across the country.

Maybe states are pushed into action when they watched people struggle to evacuate regions of Texas in a sea of unmoving cars.  Maybe states shudder at the rising costs of foreign oil.  Or maybe states just want to do their part in curbing global warming.  Whatever the case, many states want to incorporate high-speed rail into their states’ infrastructure of ground transportation.

The costs of funding this green transportation are high.  Both adapting legacy rail systems to newer technologies and starting from scratch are expensive.  The U.S. Department of Transportation announced that it is making available approximately $2.4 billion to states eager to develop high-speed rail corridors.

To fulfill the goal of connecting 80 percent of Americans to high-speed rail within the next 25 years, there’s going to be a lot of new jobs.  Recruiters may want to keep one eye on this shift in transportation.  The six-year, $53 billion plan will lead to a high demand for construction workers, train operators, and manufacturers.  The project stipulates that all products and materials are made in the United States.  Hopefully, the high-speed rail will also generate new jobs in cities and along rail corridors.