I awoke this morning to find a number of articles praising an artist’s concept for a national high-speed rail network. This is a bad idea.
Very few rail projects make economic sense. I studied city light rail projects in graduate school and found most installed systems have failed to meet projected ridership or return on investment. Heavy rail systems made money, but much of that was from the sale of land the rail companies acquired through US homesteading programs, which are no longer available. Rail also has a way of building discrimination into our communities as only some portions of the community benefit from convenient routes and others are excluded.
Like other rail projects, high speed rail sounds exciting and futuristic, but the routes would likely be frustrating.
So, what did I recommend in graduate school and what do I recommend today?
Read More
33.661127-118.00118