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Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Transportation unveiled the framework of its proposed FY2010 budget. Additional details will be available in April.

"This Administration inherited a difficult problem — a system that can no longer pay for itself," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood in a prepared statement. "We are looking at every option to solve it, but we are not going to be ready overnight."

The budget proposal does provide a broad framework that commits funds for sustainable solutions for surface transportation, for exploring options to make communities more livable through increased funding for public transit and for supporting development of a high-speed rail network.

For example, the Administration has proposed a five-year, $5 billion high-speed rail state grant program to build on the $8 billion included for high-speed rail in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.