Putting Americans back to work

These are the real words of Rhea Mayolo, a Maryland mother of three who left public assistance behind several months ago to accept a full-time job as a construction inspector on a nearby highway improvement project funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

{mosads}At the end of the Obama administration’s first year, the Recovery Act has emerged as one of the most effective tools we have in this recession to create good-paying jobs today, while laying the foundation for a more energy-efficient and environmentally sustainable economy tomorrow.

Traveling the country, I’ve met scores of workers like Rhea Mayolo who, thanks to the stimulus program, have been given an opportunity to hold onto the American Dream during one of the most challenging economic crises in modern U.S. history.

The stimulus program is responsible for saving or creating upwards of 2 million jobs nationwide last year — and for accelerating thousands of transportation and infrastructure improvements that cash-strapped states otherwise could not afford to make.

At the U.S. Department of Transportation, we take our responsibility to American workers like Rhea Mayolo seriously. In less than a year, we’ve moved more than $32 billion out the door so far to fund over 11,000 meritorious projects to rebuild and repair roads, tunnels, bridges, airports and other critical infrastructure in cities and towns across the country. All these projects create the kinds of jobs people can depend on — and which would not exist but for the Recovery Act.

As we begin Year Two, it’s important to recognize that our still-fragile economy stands to gain even more as the Recovery Act continues to build steam.

In 2010, we expect more stimulus-funded jobs to come on line than last year, as many of the projects begun in 2009 continue — and as larger, more complex infrastructure projects ramp up.

For example, a $2.3 million stimulus grant awarded by the Federal Aviation Administration in late December to the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport for runway rehabilitation will keep construction workers busy throughout the year.

In New Orleans, major work on the I-10 Causeway will continue through the summer of 2012.

And construction on one of the largest stimulus-funded projects in the U.S. — the Caldecott Tunnel in San Francisco — begins this month. This $260 million project, funded mainly by the Recovery Act, will generate many, many jobs for years to come.

At DOT, we still have $16 billion in stimulus funds that we’re about to put to good use.

We will shortly begin awarding $8 billion in grants to jumpstart new high-speed passenger-rail service in key corridors across America.

After decades of sitting idly by while other countries built first-class passenger rail systems to serve their citizens and reap economic benefits, we’re excited to lead the effort here at home.

And there’s an added bonus: More than 30 rail industry manufacturers and suppliers have promised to establish or expand their base of operations in the United States if they’re chosen by the states to build America’s next-generation high-speed rail lines.

We’re also poised to award an additional $1.5 billion in discretionary grants for multimodal transportation projects that help communities — especially those in economically distressed areas — to improve access to transit and become both more livable and sustainable.

I’ve spent time in Seattle and Denver and Dubuque and other cities across the country, and I’ve seen the positive impact of good public transit, walking paths and bike trails on the economic and social vitality of America’s downtowns.

As President Barack Obama has noted, the road to economic recovery is not always straight. He and I both recognize that we must redouble our efforts to keep our economy moving and continue finding innovative ways to spur the creation of new jobs that will enable us to compete in the future.

I’m proud to be part of an administration that has put the health and welfare of American workers at the top of its domestic agenda. And I look forward to working with the president, Congress, state and local leaders, and private industry to find new ways to revitalize our economy, retrain our workers, and give all working families, like Rhea Mayolo’s, a chance to succeed. 

LaHood is the secretary of transportation.