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We Can Play Catch-up or Fall Further Behind
The high speed rail vision proposed by the Midwest High Speed Rail Association
Michigan’s, and the nation’s, investment in our infrastructure system and vision for the future simply isn’t enough. And our pothole-plagued, car-dependent lives serve as a daily reminder of how we’re falling behind the rest of the developed world.
Tom Watkins, the former state superintendent of schools from 2001 to 2005, writes frequently for papers around Michigan about issues facing the state. A regular world traveler, he often writes about Michigan’s competitive advantage and struggles in a global context.
There are several things that contribute to Michigan’s ability to compete in a global economy that Mr. Watkins will point out, ranging from education to infrastructure. It’s the latter issue that he writes about in a recent Detroit News post that caught my attention.
Spending a couple weeks in China last year was a perfect example of this for me. I went there in the hopes of finding the exotic locales of old that you find in movies like Indiana Jones and National Geographic before it is all developed. Well, it seems like I was too late. I was shocked! It may be hard to swallow, but their cities and new infrastructure puts us to shame in many ways. It’s demoralizing driving home from DTW and seeing all of the crumbling infrastructure around us and inevitably comparing it to what I just saw in foreign lands.
And Mr. Watkins discusses this in his Detroit News piece about what he recently experienced in China:
“Rail service in China has advanced a great deal since my first experience here in 1989. When I walked through the railcars 20 years ago, I dodged bodies crouched on the floor, sharing the same space with chickens, pigs, sunflower seed shells and big puddles of phlegm.
Today, China, with the world's longest high speed rail network, is reportedly planning to spend in excess of $1 trillion on expanding its railway system [with a goal of 16,000 miles of rail by 2020].”
Conversely Mr. Watkins points out:
“This is juxtaposed to the U.S., which hopes to build our first high-speed rail line by 2014, less than 85 miles linking Tampa and Orlando. Our efforts are "Mickey Mouse" in comparison.”
Similar comments about America’s future and the impacts of our inability to invest in our future are captured in this recent discussion about the connection between attracting talent and investing in things like infrastructure:
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Thinking locally, Mr. Watkins restates what we already know, yet sadly do nothing to act on:
“Detroit is one of the only major metropolitan areas in the U.S. and indeed, the world, without a mass transit system. It is not only an embarrassment but it is holding our region and state back economically. Michigan needs to join the 21st century and develop a sensible, affordable and effective mass transportation system.”
So what’s the point? Why should we care about the trains being developed in China or mass transit in other states?
Whether we appreciate it or not, Michigan is in the middle of a competitive global marketplace. We used to appreciate this when we led the industrial world and were on the vanguard of investing in cutting edge infrastructure like highways. But for the past 50 years we’ve sat pat and let what we’ve built crumble while the rest of the world moves forward.
The United State is the fastest growing developed nation in the world, even at a far faster pace than China. Even if our current transportation system was in excellent condition it is ill-suited to meet the demands of increased use. We need to become more efficient in how we transport peope and goods. Furthermore, how are we going to attract the brightest and best to Michigan when we fail to offer amenities and lifestyle options that are common in every other metropolitan region, the types of things that young talented people look for?
A survey by the Detroit Regional New Hub released last week found that 1/3 of Michiganders surveyed would visit downtown Detroit more if there was a better transit system. More importantly, that number jumped to almost half of respondents between 18-34, the same demographic that is leaving this state in droves.
The world is moving without us and we have to answer the question if we want to catch-up or let this pass us by. Or as Mr. Watkins puts it, “should we be adopting the Detroit Lions’ mantra, ‘There is always next year’? While China keeps chugging along.”
To read the full article visit The Detroit News
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