In addition to helping cut traffic, pollution, and needless air travel, well-planned train stations can stimulate towns and cities. Unlike outlying airports, they can bring people directly downtown and serve as critical transportation hubs, making it easier for travelers whether they drive, walk, bike, or take local transit. Trains can bring our cities closer together and improve quality of life within them.

With new federal funding opportunities in sight, the Wisconsin DOT is hoping to study new train corridors that could bring passenger service to cities like Eau Claire, Green Bay, and Madison. Chris Ott, who works from Madison as deputy director of the national High Speed Rail Alliance, joined CNU Wisconsin recently for a virtual discussion of how we can plan ambitiously for fast, frequent, affordable service. Watch a recording below.

The Alliance has three main objectives: establishing a federal passenger-rail program, getting at least one American high-speed line in operation this decade, and investing in the national rail hub in Chicago, to improve train service throughout the Midwest and across the country.