Witnessing the demolition of the huge St. Paul Ford plant and learning about Minnesota’s dire racial inequalities — Minnesotans of color suffer almost triple the rates of unemployment and poverty as white Minnesotans — underscored the desperate need for the Metropolitan Council to act to revitalize the local manufacturing industry, create good jobs and make them available to disadvantaged people.
America’s public transportation infrastructure provides one excellent opportunity to build a more equitable, prosperous economy. Here are five policy prescriptions that can help create good jobs and growth in the transportation sector.
Amtrak is winning praise for including a requirement that potential contractors provide details about their plans to create American jobs to fulfill orders from the railway in its latest request for proposals.
The Jobs to Move America coalition on Feb. 3 congratulated Amtrak for its recent Request for Proposals (RFP) for the purchase of 28 high-speed train sets including an unprecedented requirement for bidders to detail their plans to employ American workers.
Underinvestment in job creation, training, education and public services like transportation put middle-class success out of reach for many Americans, while at the other end of the spectrum, wealth has been concentrated in very few hands.
California’s High-Speed Rail Authority and Amtrak on Friday released a joint request for proposals to build trains for California’s planned bullet train and Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor.
Currently, all rail cars and buses purchased with Federal Transit Administration cash must be assembled in the U.S., while only 60 percent of the components must be American-made.
Federal transportation funding is so skimpy that Congress acts like Ebenezer Scrooge when it comes to helping pay for the nation’s roads, subways, buses and other transportation, the AFL-CIO’s top transportation official says.
That’s why our nation’s holiday wish list for 2014 must include a comprehensive vision — and adequate resources — for strengthening the country’s transportation systems, which are the lifeblood of a growing 21st century economy.
