KANSAS CITY, Mo. — “America takes its first step toward transforming its transportation system,” said HNTB Corporation’s Peter Gertler in response to President Barack Obama’s announcement allocating $8 billion to high-speed rail projects across the country. Gertler, high-speed rail services chair for the national infrastructure firm, said these projects – along current and proposed rail lines in California, Illinois, Wisconsin, Florida, North Carolina, New York, New Jersey and elsewhere – will yield significant benefits to the recipient states and regions. “Even in the short-term, such an investment will spur construction, create jobs and boost local transit systems. In the future,