The US Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood will be stepping down after four years of service. He had a ten minute interview with ENR that outlined his major accomplishments. Here’s what he said:

I really think that one of the real legacies for President Obama when it comes to transportation will be high-speed rail. When you look…over four years, we’ve invested over $12 billion, which is 12 billion times more than has ever been invested in passenger rail. I think that’s a huge investment in just a very short period of time.
LaHood checked out the high speed rail systems in China, France, Germany, Japan, and Spain. He noted that in each case the federal government had to take the lead to get the projects done.

Personally, I think the high speed rail is a crazy government boondoggle.  The airline system solves the problem well, in conjunction with buses and passenger cars. The huge investment would be so much more valuable fixing existing bridges or making the electrical grid smarter.

If they want a bold new program, free high speed WiFi could make a huge difference in many cities and towns. Google just set-up a free WiFi trial in the Chelsea section of NYC, that includes high and low income housing. It will be fascinating to see the positive outcomes that grow from this experiment.