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Needed improvements to the nation’s air traffic control system promise to make the system more efficient. However, increasing air traffic congestion and delays will not be resolved solely by installation of next generation — or NextGen — air traffic control technology, or by re-regulating the airlines.

It will take nearly two decades to equip all aircraft, build ground stations, and completely retrofit our existing air traffic control system.

Even with Next-Gen, aircraft will only be able to fly marginally closer together, and no additional aircraft will be able to land at already-congested airports in extreme weather conditions, such as snow or thunderstorms.

In the next two decades, aircraft movements are expected to double, yet runway capacity is projected to remain nearly static at most major congested airports. Demand management solutions, such as congestion pricing and slot lotteries, only reshuffle the crowded deck.

In the long term, the United States must look at other transportation alternatives, particularly for shorter passenger transportation service in congested corridors.

‘Only viable option’

In densely-populated areas, like the Northeast Corridor, high-speed rail service is the only viable option with the ability to move millions of people from city center to city center.

Unfortunately, Amtrak retains the national franchise for all rail passenger service in the United States.

By any measure, Amtrak’s Soviet-style operation of long-distance rail passenger service and monopoly of high-speed service has had a checkered past.

Its Acela acquisition and operational problems have resulted in lawsuits, equipment failures, costly mismanagement and train service that averages just 83 mph in the Northeast Corridor.

Excellent high-speed rail systems have long been in use in Europe and Asia, with train speeds reaching 200 mph or more. The slowest bullet train in Japan averages 125 mph.

	John Mica
	H.R. 5466 seeks private-sector proposals to build, finance and operate high-speed rail service between Washington, D.C., and New York City in less than two hours.

The only rail corridor that Amtrak owns with the potential for high-speed service is the right of way from

Washington, D.C., to New York City, and most of the line to Boston.

True high-speed rail service will cost billions of dollars to separate rail traffic and rebuild tunnels and bridges; certainly this infrastructure project will be a major undertaking. Amtrak does not have the track record or capacity to develop that high-speed corridor.

New high-speed proposal

Congress must seriously consider adopting a plan I have introduced in the House of Representatives and proposed to be included in the Amtrak reauthorization legislation developed by the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

My proposal, H.R. 5466, will seek to unleash the private sector to develop and submit proposals to build, finance and operate Washington D.C.-to-New York City high-speed rail service.

That plan requires city center-to-city center rail service in less than two hours.

It will enhance commuter passenger service and freight-rail capacity in that corridor by completely separating them from high-speed service.

Imagine the possibilities

My plan also requires an evaluation of the economic potential of the now underutilized corridor.

Imagine new development income from entities along the corridor, planned development rather than unkempt and unsightly conditions, and a viable job and economic generator.

Imagine also a rail solution to deal with air traffic congestion in a region that accounts for three-fourths of all our nation’s chronically-delayed flights.

And imagine if the system was constructed and operated similarly to Virgin Rail in England’s North-South Corridor: a high-speed rail system that returns a dividend to its investors.

Addressing the growing congestion in this nation will require American ingenuity, bold initiatives, and all modes of transportation. Bringing true high- speed rail to the United States is an idea whose time has come.

Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.) is the ranking Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.