That's about right

Via Brian's Twitter feed, Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood has some unkind words for Georgia and its prospects for commuter rail ...

Ray LaHood, the U.S. secretary of transportation, was asked Monday whether high-speed rail would ever come to Atlanta.

“It’ll come to Atlanta if Georgia gets its act together,” LaHood said, using words that came across more blunt in person than they do on the page.

In a later interview, LaHood revised and extended that remark, suggesting that the state has yet to get its act together in other ways as well.

“I think that’s true of transit too,” he said. “There has to be a commitment by state government that transit is important,” implying that in Georgia it isn’t. ...

Every region, every state has to decide which approach best suits its needs, he said. Some communities will make a commitment and investment to passenger rail and high-speed rail, while others will not.

“If the people of Atlanta think it’s OK to sit in traffic for an hour and a half on the way to a doctor’s appointment, so be it,” LaHood said.