High-Speed Rail in California
The rest of the country may be putting the brakes on high-speed rail projects, but the concept is alive and well in California. The state Senate recently passed a measure, with only Democratic votes, to put about $8 billion toward initial development of a bullet train to run between Los Angeles and San Francisco. The vote was hailed as a victory by Democrats, who said the project was an economic stimulus for the state.
Then last week, a UCLA economic analysis threw a wet blanket on the fire when it stated that a similar bullet train project in Japan in the 1960s did not create jobs or boost the economy. The study also said that high-speed rail tends to create sprawl because it makes it cheaper and easier to live in bedroom communities. (Depending on your point of view, this could be a good thing or a bad thing.)
Given congressional Republicans' unwillingness to come along for the high-speed train ride and Republican governors' refusal of high-speed rail money, California may offer the only realistic opportunity anytime soon to understand how and when to embark on high-speed rail projects. And the state still has a long way to go, with total costs for the project estimated at around $70 billion. We know that building a high-speed rail system from scratch takes a long time--longer than any politician's public life--and that the jury is still out on how beneficial such transit is to the overall economy. We also know that investment in infrastructure is about as solid a commitment as a city or state can make to its residents. There is no way that money is going overseas.
What can we learn from California's struggle to build a bullet train? Will partisan divisions sink the project? Is it true that building the transit system won't impact the economy? Does it matter? Are there less tangible benefits from super-fast train between two hubs? Would it be a benefit for the whole state or just Los Angeles and San Francisco residents?
July 18, 2012 4:19 PM
High-Speed Rail Solves Tough Questions
By Michael Melaniphy
President and CEO, American Public Transportation Association
High-speed rail provides the answer to many of the challenges we face today in America. It creates jobs, expands mobility, reduces congestion and decreases our dependence on foreign oil. Today, traffic congestion costs $140 billion in lost time and productivity. On the other hand, every $1 we invest in high-speed rail creates $4 in economic benefits, in addition to providing transportation relief to a tight area. The funding bill signed by Gov. Brown today is expected to create 600,000 full-time construction jobs over the course of building the project and 450,000 permanent new jobs from economic growth over the next 25 years.
By creating a high-speed rail option, we will keep billions of dollars in the US economy through decreased oil consumption and provide an energy efficient solution for generations to come. Implementation of high-speed rail will make the entire transportation system – air, road and rail – work better as an interconnected system. This program will connect major cities that currently do not have significant air service. It will conne...
High-speed rail provides the answer to many of the challenges we face today in America. It creates jobs, expands mobility, reduces congestion and decreases our dependence on foreign oil. Today, traffic congestion costs $140 billion in lost time and productivity. On the other hand, every $1 we invest in high-speed rail creates $4 in economic benefits, in addition to providing transportation relief to a tight area. The funding bill signed by Gov. Brown today is expected to create 600,000 full-time construction jobs over the course of building the project and 450,000 permanent new jobs from economic growth over the next 25 years.
By creating a high-speed rail option, we will keep billions of dollars in the US economy through decreased oil consumption and provide an energy efficient solution for generations to come. Implementation of high-speed rail will make the entire transportation system – air, road and rail – work better as an interconnected system. This program will connect major cities that currently do not have significant air service. It will connect suburban commuting patterns with central cities, and will connect the largest central cities while reducing airport congestion. These aren’t just benefits for San Francisco or Los Angeles—they are solutions that benefit the entire state.
Americans understand and support high-speed rail. According to a survey APTA just released this month, nearly two thirds of Americans are interested in traveling by high speed rail, and the figure soars to 74 percent among those in the 18-24 age brackets. High-speed rail is the transportation of the next generation, and California will lead the way for a national program.
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July 17, 2012 3:03 PM
Momentum for High-Speed Rail
By Peter Gertler
Chairman, High Speed Rail Services, HNTB Corporation
California is proof that America needs to remain bullish on HSR
In today’s hyper-partisan political climate, it can be difficult to stay optimistic about high-speed rail and its chances to become a reality in our nation. But in many ways, we are living in the best of times for high-speed rail to take its rightful place in this country’s transportation future, as evidenced by state Senate support last week in California.
Across America there’s an unprecedented level of focus and interest in high-speed rail since 2009, when President Barack Obama first placed a new emphasis on building high-speed and intercity passenger rail to connect communities and economic centers across the country.
On the west coast, we should see the start of the first section of the high-speed rail project go to construction in 2013. We are seeing real progress being made on the Los Angeles-to-San Francisco segment. These are locations where there are significant populations, travel-mobility issues and transportation infrastructu...
California is proof that America needs to remain bullish on HSR
In today’s hyper-partisan political climate, it can be difficult to stay optimistic about high-speed rail and its chances to become a reality in our nation. But in many ways, we are living in the best of times for high-speed rail to take its rightful place in this country’s transportation future, as evidenced by state Senate support last week in California.
Across America there’s an unprecedented level of focus and interest in high-speed rail since 2009, when President Barack Obama first placed a new emphasis on building high-speed and intercity passenger rail to connect communities and economic centers across the country.
On the west coast, we should see the start of the first section of the high-speed rail project go to construction in 2013. We are seeing real progress being made on the Los Angeles-to-San Francisco segment. These are locations where there are significant populations, travel-mobility issues and transportation infrastructure that needs improving—and high-speed rail is a viable solution
But that is not all. In the Northeast, there is sharp focus and collaboration between states, Amtrak and other interested parties along the Northeast Corridor (between Washington D.C. and Boston) to improve speed and reliability along one of the busiest and most productive rail corridors in the world. In other states such as Texas, Georgia, Michigan and New York, there are studies under way to advance and progress high-speed rail.
To achieve the goal of a balanced, multi-modal transportation system for this country we must plug high-speed rail into the mix of transportation options to meet our challenge:
1) Move people and goods more efficiently and conveniently.
2) Create a balanced, integrated and seamless transportation system where we have multiple convenient, reliable, safe and efficient options that cross and crisscross each other for the greatest benefit.
The conversation about high-speed rail in America is finally maturing and that is a very good thing. High-speed rail offers many benefits, including job creation, greater mobility, convenience and energy savings. It's the missing link in our nation's multimodal transportation network and we must remain bullish on HSR not just for the good of the mode itself, but for the good and future of our transportation system, which in turn is good for America.
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July 17, 2012 1:46 PM
Don't Let Faint Hearts Prevail
By Jack Kinstlinger
Chairman Emeritus, KCI Technologies,Inc.
Yes, the high speed rail project in California entails much risk and faces many pitfalls but so did the Erie and Panama Canals and the construction of the intercontinental railroads when they were first conceived, and where would we be now if the faint hearted had prevailed? Projects of these magnitude require vision and courage and praise to Governor Brown and the California legislature for showing us the way to a new and exciting mode of transportation. It is hard to believe that the Japanese bullet train did not generate huge benefits to the economy of Japan. The Tokyo - Osaka corridor would not be prospering if it were not for the reliable fast and safe mobility of high speed rail. It has certainly proven to be highly profitable to its private owner/ operator-Japan Central Rail. Generations from now when high speed rail in California and elsewhere are seen as a blessing, we will have long forgotten all of today's hullabaloo.