Funded By
- Lincoln Institute of Land Policy
- The Rockefeller Foundation
Other Reports in this Series
Oct 2011
in America 2050
439
Jan 2011
The United States has embarked on a program of building high-speed rail corridors in the nation’s most urbanized corridors and regions. This is a bold step toward meeting the infrastructure needs of the coming century, including providing capacity for economic growth in regions where air and road congestion threaten economic competitiveness and quality of life.
However, given the newness of the program, there is a steep learning curve for states and regions in developing high-speed and even “classic” intercity passenger corridors. This report aims to educate the public and decision makers about the elements of success for high-speed rail as measured by factors that contribute to ridership demand for these services, particularly as they apply to the unique spatial attributes and travel patterns of America.
This report provides the first and only comparative study of close to 8,000 existing and proposed rail rights of way (of fewer than 600 miles in length) and their relative ability to attract passengers. In doing, the analysis reveals which regional corridors are best suited for high-speed rail in the United States, based on factors that have contributed to rail ridership in other systems around the world. Our approach evaluates and scores each corridor based on parameters related to regional population, employment concentrations, transit accessibility, air travel markets, and composition of employment sectors, among others. Those corridors receiving the highest scores in our analysis are most suited to attract ridership and should be the focal point of federal investments.
The federal government has defined three categories of high-speed rail in the United States: Core Express Corridors, Regional Corridors, and Emerging/ Feeder Routes, to reflect the great variety of regional characteristics and suitability for passenger rail nationwide. This is not a “one size fits all” program. While not every corridor in the country may be able to generate sufficient demand to justify Core Express Corridors at this time, incremental investments in corridors suited for Regional and Emerging/ Feeder service can meet important transportation needs while building markets for passenger rail that may someday justify investments in Core Express Corridors.
For additional information on the America 2050 project, visit the archived America 2050 website.
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