Every Thanksgiving, from when I was a little kid up until 2016, I used to travel from Iowa City to Chicago to visit my grandparents in the city. It was a three-and-a-half-hour trip, not including stops, which meant that we had to stay at my grandparents’ house once we arrived.

That made it impossible to take a day trip to Chicago and see my grandparents, and after 2016, it was harder for my family and I to travel longer than a day. The choice was between making the trip or not going at all. Most of the time, we chose not to go.

It can be difficult to travel long distances in the Midwest. That’s why Iowa needs to expand its mass transportation to improve travel times.

Plans and construction for a high-speed rail line between Iowa City and Chicago were made in 2010. Illinois has already constructed most of their lines with their Chicago to St. Louis line.

But Iowa has yet to start construction on their side of the rail line citing a lack of funding as the reason why. President Joe Biden’s infrastructure plan could be the answer the state needs to finish building the Iowa City-Chicago line.

Biden’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill provides a decent amount of funding toward passenger train lines, like the plans for the Iowa City to Chicago line. This would mean Iowa would have to pay for little to nothing on its own to build the rails.

However, Iowa could also utilize state funds to invest in high-speed railway to make it a priority. Once built, the railroad would prove its worth by increasing tourism.

It will also allow University of Iowa students — a good portion of whom come from Illinois and areas surrounding Chicago — to either see family or spend an academic break visiting the city.

And it wouldn’t just be students who would benefit. Iowa City residents could travel to Chicago, and Chicago residents could travel to Iowa City, providing necessary tourism to make Iowa City even more of an iconic spot within the U.S.

What’s more, trains provide an ecological benefit compared to cars. People wouldn’t have to travel the 200 miles to Chicago, meaning hundreds of cars would not be on the roads — a pollutant that makes up nearly one-fifth of greenhouse gas emissions.

There is little to no reason for Iowa to not have a high-speed rail connection to Chicago, and the reasons that do exist are financial. Even if Biden’s infrastructure plan does not pay entirely for its construction, building a high-speed railroad should be a priority for Iowa and state funding should be redirected to it.

Iowa City could be a bigger city soon, and a railway is the way to make it happen. The ecological and economic benefits outweigh the costs of its construction, as tourism and mass transportation will save travelers money and time. Iowans, students, and residents alike will majorly benefit.

Columns reflect the opinions of the authors and are not necessarily those of the Editorial Board, The Daily Iowan, or other organizations in which the author may be involved.