High-Speed Rail as a Business Engine

Emil Frankel, Director of National Transportation Policy posted his latest entry on the National Journal’s transportation expert blog.

This week’s topic concerns the benefits of high-speed rail, which were extolled recently in a report by the U.S. Conference of Mayors. The report focused on four cities: New York, Chicago, Miami, and Albany finding that implementing high-speed rail in each of the cities made business travel more efficient, encouraged mixed-use development, and helped expand markets.

Has the uncertainty surrounding the utility of high-speed rail as a business engine been settled?

We should be careful to not blindly embrace or prioritize any one mode as the solution to our economic woes. Emil makes the point that high-speed rail, or improved intercity passenger service needs to be evaluated in the context of broad strategic transportation plans or programs that strive toward a set of clearly defined national goals. Putting in place broad strategic goals and programs can help demonstrate that there is no single solution to improving a particular region. Check out Emil’s entry here.