PennDesign HSR

Final Report!

2011-05-18T20:47:00.002-04:00

Our final report is available here.

Executive Summary

2011-05-06T20:13:00.002-04:00

The executive summary for our studio is now available for your perusal here.

We presented in Philadelphia on Tuesday, and will present in Washington, D.C. this Monday.

PennDesign HSR in the Buffalo News

2011-04-03T12:21:00.002-04:00

An op-ed by studio member Matthew Rao on the merits of New York's high-speed rail proposal was published in today's Buffalo News! Click here to read the story.

High-Speed Rail: A Transformative Investment for New York's Future

2011-03-30T21:00:00.005-04:00

Recently, newly elected Representatives Tom Reed and Ann Marie Buerkle submitted a letter to Transportation Secretary LaHood expressing their reservations about New York State's application for high-speed rail funds. Last year, we conducted detailed research on New York's high-speed rail proposal and its potential to act as a transformative economic development tool for the state. While we believe that high-speed rail in the Northeast Corridor should be the flagship infrastructure project of the nation, the merits of New York's high-speed rail proposal are still substantial. These merits are outlined in our document, The Erie Canal of the 21st Century: High-Speed Rail as a Regional Regeneration Tool for Upstate New York.

Midreview Presentation

2011-03-11T03:47:00.001-05:00

We have posted our midreview presentation--click here to download it.

New Podcast--from Berlin!

2011-03-04T19:25:00.002-05:00

Our latest podcast is posted! Brought to you from Berlin. Download it here, or navigate to the podcast section of our website to listen to more.

Two Articles, and Europe

2011-03-01T23:48:00.002-05:00

Why High-speed Rail is Right, by Robert Yaro, one of our professors.

Northeastern senators make play for high-speed rail funds rejected by Florida

We travel to Europe tomorrow to study high-speed rail in several countries and meet with the people who make it work.

New Podcast!

2011-02-24T00:57:00.002-05:00

We have a new podcast. Click here to download it, or navigate to the podcast section of our site to listen to all of them.

Governor Scott’s Decision Compromises our Regional and National Economic Competitiveness

2011-02-17T23:12:00.000-05:00

Wednesday’s decision by Governor Rick Scott to cancel the Florida High-Speed Rail project is truly a case of misguided political calculations. After winning the election on a slogan of “Lets get to work,” Mr. Scott decided to reject $2.4 billion in federal funds that would have meant thousands of well-paying jobs in his state. In rejecting the funds, Mr. Scott claimed that he was afraid his state would be stuck paying for cost overruns or subsidizing the operation—both of which private operators from all over the world were willing to guarantee, leaving Florida with nothing but the benefits. Sadly, Mr. Scott’s politics won out over his State’s economic well-being.

Faced with tough economic times and high unemployment, Florida had the opportunity to become a national leader and the first state to have state-of-the-art high-speed rail—all paid for by the federal government and private sector! Instead, Mr. Scott is using faulty claims and overblown rhetoric to kill jobs and suppress economic development in his cities.

Metro Orlando is forecast by the Census Bureau to experience 64% growth by 2050. In the absence of new infrastructure capacity, that growth, and the prosperity it would bring will go elsewhere. In the global economy there will be winners and losers. The winners will be the places that invest in long-term capacity for growth in infrastructure, education and technology. Florida will be one of the losers if they continue on this course.

High-Speed Rail Will Underpin America’s 21st Century Economy

2011-02-17T23:04:00.006-05:00

The population of the United States is expected to grow by 130 million by 2050. Sustaining the nation’s prosperity in the 21st century will require that we create new capacity in all of our major infrastructure systems. Of special concern will be the need to move people quickly and reliably between America’s metropolitan regions –where 80% of Americans live and work. Already the interstate highways and airports in these places are extremely congested, with few opportunities for expansion. Faced with similar challenges, virtually all of America’s global competitors in Europe and Asia are building vast new high-speed rail (HSR) systems. Until recently, the U.S. lagged in developing its own HSR plans. This changed in 2009 when President Obama insisted that $8 billion in stimulus funds be dedicated to initiating the nation’s HSR system. And this week, Vice President Joe Biden announced in Philadelphia that the Administration is requesting $53 billion to expedite the development of this system, with the goal of bringing 80% of America’s growing population within easy reach of the HSR system within 25 years.

Now some naysayers in Congress and the media are criticizing the Administration’s plans, saying that high-speed rail won’t work in America: that it’s too expensive and that America is not suited for high-speed rail. Until recently similar arguments were made in the United Kingdom, which is now moving forward with its own HSR system.

And while critics might be tempted to dismiss comparisons with international examples, we are more similar to Europe and Asia than some might think. The Northeast Corridor is 457 miles long and features a population of 50 million, which is the same size and distance that the UK’s new High Speed Two line will eventually cover. The new Conservative government of the UK is building the High Speed Two line even as it pursues austerity measures in other areas because they know it will yield profound economic returns: from job growth, to tourism, to a boom in station-area development. If you were to overlay a map of the Northeast Corridor over Europe, Boston to Washington would be the same distance as Brussels to Berlin. The Northeast corridor also features a strong rail culture, and Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor rail services generate $350 million in profit every year.

In California, the high-speed rail line between Anaheim and San Francisco will cost $42.6 billion. This is undoubtedly a lot of money, but it is also less than half the $100 billion it would cost to construct 3,000 lane-miles of highway, five new runways, and 90 new departure gates that will be needed if high-speed rail is not built. In the Northeast Corridor, we would have to add seven new lanes to I-95--making it a 15-lane highway--to provide the same capacity as just two high-speed rail tracks. There is simply not enough room to build seven more lanes of highway through our cities, towns, and countryside.

On Tuesday, Vice President Biden reiterated the message from President Obama’s State of the Union address—to stay on top, America has to out-educate, out-innovate, and out-build the competition. The administration’s plan to invest $53 billion in high-speed rail over the next six years is critical to maintaining America’s competitive advantage in the decades to come and to meet the mobility needs of a rapidly growing population.

We have reached an exciting juncture in our nation’s development. The President has laid out a strong vision for America’s personal and economic mobility in the 21st Century, focusing on densely-populated metropolitan regions where high-speed rail will be faster, safer, and cleaner than other modes. While we take steps to reduce our deficit and streamline the federal government, we must continue to promote investments that will generate well-paying jobs today and form the backbone of our economy in the future.

New Podcast!

2011-02-17T22:03:00.001-05:00

Check out the podcast section of our site to hear the second HSR podcast.