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In the next few weeks, the administration will be announcing which states will be awarded funds from $8 billion dedicated for high-speed rail (HSR) development in the stimulus package. Right now, 259 applications from the states valued at $57 billion are chasing the recovery plan money. The administration’s decision to devote considerable resources to developing HSR underscores its commitment to bring bullet trains to the U.S. But unless it makes the right decisions about where to put the money and what policies to follow, the new enthusiasm for HSR could be just the latest false start in a long, disappointing history.

Last spring, President Barack Obama unveiled his vision for a national HSR network. The president conjured up an image of a 21st-century train infrastructure, “a system that reduces travel times and increases mobility…reduces congestion and boosts productivity…reduces destructive emissions and creates jobs.” The administration also put forward a rail policy that, rather than laying track coast to coast, would concentrate on heavily populated corridors where short distances between cities would let faster trains compete effectively with cars and airplanes.

Since then, the administration has called on states to submit plans for HSR competitive grants. Congress, meanwhile, added $2.5 billion to the HSR pot for fiscal year 2010, and it remains possible that the House and Senate will add billions more in a second jobs stimulus, focusing on infrastructure, likely to be taken up this winter.

For decades, high-speed rail has been a fantasy, mired in bureaucratic, regulatory and market inertia. But with the renewed push for it by the administration, the high-speed rail future is beginning to take shape. The benefits of high-speed rail are enormous. For one, HSR is a big step toward energy independence and a post-carbon future. HSR corridors operated with nonpolluting electric locomotives could reduce carbon emissions by as much as six million pounds annually.

HSR also has a strong track record of jumpstarting economic development along its path. Fast, efficient transportation could revitalize depressed cities and transform regional economies. And while the creation of an HSR network lies in the future, it will put people to work immediately. Eighty percent of the cost of HSR is in infrastructure-building and land acquisition, while 20 percent goes for the trainsets and stations that passengers use. New rights of way need to be built now for HSR corridors that are projected to be operational in a few years – meaning tens of thousands of jobs that can’t be exported.

The question that we now face is: How do we get there from here?

The choice that the Obama administration and Congress face is simple: modest incrementalism versus a truly transformative vision. The administration’s commitment to fund high-speed rail is a step in the right direction, but it’s not the end of the process. Lest the allocation of stimulus funds to HSR become President Obama’s own “Mission Accomplished,” the administration needs to remain engaged, proactive, and forward-thinking in shepherding high-speed rail to completion.

With HSR, President Obama can leave a lasting imprint on the American landscape and economy. But that legacy can only be secured if the administration is willing to make bold decisions and confront a tired political culture. If we really are serious about making the high-speed rail future a reality, the old ways of doing business will not suffice.

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