America 2050

Two recent editorial pieces from cities as disparate as Columbus, Ohio and Houston, Texas call for a federal commitment to de-clog our airports and highways with long-term investments in high-speed intercity rail.  Proponents in Texas argue that state officials need to move beyond 20th century policies and not to sell short on the state's transportation system in the 21st.  Both pieces argue that high-speed rail has shown benefits in improving a nation's carbon foot print, and help to relieve congestion at major airports, especially for short-distance intercity travel.  They conclude that it is time to provide Americans with a safe and reliable transportation network that includes intercity rail.

Read the Columbus Dispatch piece here.

Read the Houston Chronicle piece here.

While airlines are running later and with more delays than ever -- a third of flights arrived late at La Guardia Airport between June 1 and Aug. 15, according to Flightstats.com -- Acela's performance is improving. The train is running on time 88% of the time, so far this year -- up from 84% a year ago. It was 90% on time in June. With Amtrak selling every seat on some Acela trains in peak travel periods, Amtrak recently added another weekday Acela round trip between New York and Washington to keep up with growing demand. The new train dropped all but one stop, Philadelphia, shaving 15 minutes off the normal 2¾-hour, five-stop New York-Washington trip.

A spokeswoman for JetBlue Airways Corp., Forest Hills, N.Y., says it's wrong for tax dollars to be used to subsidize Amtrak passenger trains "when a modernized air-traffic-control system is not yet in place or even funded."

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that for the first time in 50 years, more than 10 billion trips were made on buses and trains across the country; with light rail showing the most gains. Amtrak has also shown some gain in ridership. In 2008, $1.5 billion will be earmarked to keep Amtrak operating; in addition, Congress is looking into potential benefits of high speed rail (HSR). As of today, 14 HSR corridors have been proposed. However, Congressman Oberstar, Chairman of the House Transportation Committee pointed out that the U.S. is behind Europe and Asia on implementing HSR. Officials state that high-speed rail could still be decades away.

Atlanta Journal article. (photo: Alain Stoll at flickr.com)

On June 26, the House Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials held a hearing on Benefits of Intercity Passenger Rail. Gov. Mark Schweiker, the chairman of Philadelphia's CEO Council for Growth and President and CEO of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce testified on behalf of the Philadelphia business community, stressing the importance of Amtrak's Northeast Corridor service to Philadelphia's economic competitiveness, and the importance of maintaining the Corridor infrastructure to SEPTA commuter service in the region.

His testimony included four key recommendations. They include:

1) Find a secure source of funding for intercity passenger rail.

2) Define "state of good repair" and provide funding to achieve it.

3) Improve trip time on the Northeast Corridor.

4) Require Amtrak to work with the states and commuter railroads along the Northeast Corridor to develop a plan to increase the capacity of the corridor.

Download Mark Schweiker's testimony here.

The CEO Council for Growth is working with Regional Plan Association and others to form a business-civic coalition in the Northeast for investments in the Northeast Corridor and development of a long-term capital plan for improved and competitive intercity rail service.

Notes from the Northeast Corridor Mobility Roundtable, which took place at the Northeast Summit on March 2 are now available for download.

The discussion featured comments by Congressmen James Oberstar, Jerrold Nadler and former Governor Michael Dukakis.

Download Northeast Corridor Mobilty Roundtable Summary.

Left: Philly's skyline, as seen from the Loews Hotel.

Philadelphia – Over one hundred civic, business and government leaders met in Philadelphia on March 2 to discuss action steps toward creating a more efficient, sustainable, and economically competitive Northeast Megaregion.

The Summit was highlighted by keynote addresses by former Governors Michael Dukakis and Parris Glendening, who also chaired roundtable meetings on Northeast Corridor Mobility and Regional Landscapes and Smart Growth, respectively. The Summit was attended by Congressman James Oberstar (D-MN), chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), who both participated in the Northeast Corridor Mobility roundtable.

Douglas Foy, Former Secretary of Commonwealth Development, Massachusetts, chaired the roundtable on Energy and Emissions, which focused on capitalizing on energy efficiency opportunities in the Northeast, reducing vehicle miles traveled, and strengthening the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI).

Download the Northeast Climate and Competitiveness Summit Program here. 

Read Neal Peirce's March 11 syndicated column on the Summit: A Unified Northeast Corridor: Dream, Necessity, Or Both?

Energy and Emissions: Read the Roundtable Summary for Energy and Emissions.

Download Presentation by Christopher Walker of the Climate Group (1.7 M).

Download Presentation by Bary Rabe, University of Michigan (228 K).

The Northeast Summit was supported by grants from the William Penn Foundation, the Surdna Foundation, and a contribution by WolfBlock.

On February 20 – 22, Regional Plan Association and the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy convened 32 transportation, economic development and regional planning practitioners to discuss the future of America’s surface transportation policy at the Pocantico Conference Center of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. 

The goal of the roundtable was to develop a strategy for national surface transportation policy in America that can effectively deal with long term trends, such as rapid population growth, demographic change, emerging megaregions, climate change and rising international trade and goods movement. Three briefing papers were prepared in advance of the roundtable on: vision, finance, and legislative strategy, respectively. The papers can be downloaded below. Notes and a summary of the roundtable will be available in the coming weeks on this website.

For Download:

Michael D. Meyer, “Toward a Vision for the Nation’s Surface Transportation System: Policies to Transcend Boundaries and Transition to a New Era”

Gary Maring, “Future Financing Options to Meet Highway and Transit Needs.”

Mortimer L. Downey III, “Legislative Considerations for Long Term Policy Change.”

* The views expressed in the papers do not necessarily reflect those of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund.

Last October and November Regional Plan Association and the Penn Institute for Urban Research convened the Greater Philadelphia-New York Leadership Exchange to promote collaboration between the two regions around common transportation, economic and land use challenges. The Leadership Exchange was sponsored by the William Pen Foundation and was part of ongoing research by the Regional Plan Association to examine the Northeast Megaregion and its mobility needs, economic competitiveness and growth concerns. The two meetings, held in Philadelphia and New York City highlighted topics such as Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor, the role of anchor institutions in economic development, and wireless internet initiatives in center cities.

The Leadership Exchange was the first step in a multiyear project to build a “Northeast Network” of business and civic leaders from Boston to Washington to advocate for investments and policies to sustain the economic competitiveness, sustainability and quality of life if the Northeast in the 21st Century. The Leadership Exchange will be followed by a “Northeast Climate and Competitiveness Summit” on March 2 at the Loews Philadelphia Hotel, featuring roundtable meetings on Northeast Corridor Mobility, Energy and Emissions, and Regional Landscape and Smart Growth.

Notes from the two Leadership Exchange Meetings can be downloaded here.

Click here for notes from the Philadelphia meeting.

Click here for notes from the New York City meeting.  

The fast-growing Front Range region of the American West encompasses cities along the I-25 corridor in Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico. Poised to grow 50 percent by the year 2035, local transportation advocates and business leaders in these region are exploring high-speed rail as a sustainable transportation and economic development initiative. In September 2006 a $1.2 million feasibility study for high-speed rail was commissioned, exploring the feasibility of high speed rail service along the I-25 corridor and the I-70 corridor, from Utah to Denver International Airport.

A recent op-ed in The Denver Post argues in favor of these investments.

Click here for a link to the Rocky Mountain Rail Authority.

Image © Laura Sejud

Building on the University of Pennsylvania School of Design's Spring 2005 report, "Reinventing Megalopolis," this team of U. Penn students has strengthened recommendations for economic competitiveness, high-speed rail, and envionmental preservation in the Northeast Megaregion.

This is one of the reports that resulted from the International Planning Workshop in Madrid in March 2006.

Download the report