high speed rail studio final report

MAKING HIGH-SPEED RAIL WORK IN THE NORTHEAST MEGAREGION

University of Pennsylvania . School of DesignDepartment of City and Regional Planning

Spring 2010 . Studio Final Report

Shaping the Regions Future Through Strategic Transportation Investments

UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA SCHOOL OF DESIGN

The University of Pennsylvania carries on the principles and spirit of its founder, Benjamin Franklin: entrepreneurship, innovation, invention, outreach and a pragmatic love of knowledge. Franklins outlook of melding theory and practice has remained a driving force in the universitys academic and social mission.

The University of Pennsylvania School of Design embodies those principles as well, linking a diverse range of disciplines through a design perspective. The school houses Architecture, City and Regional Planning, Landscape Architecture, Fine Arts, Historic Preservation, Digital Media Design and Visual Studies. The City Planning Program within the School of Design integrates academic planning theories with practical, client-based applications of planning.

During the programs final semester, students participate in a capstone studio that serves as the culmination of their planning work at Penn. Incorporating the skills gained during two years of study, the studio project requires a team of students, under the guidance of professional practioners and faculty, to collaborate on a project addressing a real-world planning challenge.

In this studio, held during the spring semester of 2010, a team of 18 students with various planning backgrounds tackled the challenge of envisioning a new mobility future for the Northeast, centered around the concept of developing a high-speed rail system for the Northeast Megaregion. Students researched the system alignment and design, capital costs, regional mobility, station-area development, environmental benefits and implementation strategies. Findings from the semester are available in this report and electronically at http://studio.design.upenn.edu/hsr/.

The studio would like to extend its gratitude to the instructors Marilyn Jordan Taylor and Bob Yaro for their guidance in producing this report.


STUDIO TEAM

Lace Babcock Master of City Planning, Transportation

Jeffrey Barg Master of City Planning, Urban Design

Amy Bernknopf Master of City Planning, Transportation

Cassidy Boulan Master of City Planning, Transportation

Jeff Bumgardner Master of City Planning, Public + Private Development

Trinity Busch Master of City Planning, Land Use and Environment

Ted Clement Master of City Planning, Transportation

Diana Cornely Master of City Planning, Public + Private Development

Yirui Huang Master of City Planning, Public + Private Development

Lisa Jacobson Master of City Planning, Transportation

Kate Keller Master of City Planning, Public + Private Development

Zlata Kobzantsev Master of City Planning, Public + Private Development

Erika Lindsey Master of City Planning, Community and Economic Development

Reuben MacMartin Master of City Planning, Transportation

Colin McLean Master of City Planning, Urban Design

Danny OShaughnessy Master of City Planning, Public + Private Development

Bryan Rodda Master of City Planning, Transportation

Selina Zapata Master of City Planning, Transportation

INSTRUCTORS

Marilyn Jordan Taylor Dean and Paley Professor

Bob Yaro Professor of Practice

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The studio offers its sincere thanks to the Daniel and Joanna S. Rose Fund, Inc., and AECOM for their generous contributions to the studios work and its planning workshop, which was held in London, England, from March 8 - 12, 2010. It also extends its thanks to the Regional Plan Association, whose America 2050 project proved instrumental to this report, as well as the Business Alliance for Northeast Mobility, a valuable sponsoring organization.

The studio also extends particular thanks to Vincent Goodstadt, Former President, Royal Town Planning Institute and Honorary Professor at the University of Manchester, who gave generously of his time to organize the London Workshop. We would also like to thank Skidmore Owings & Merrills London Office and office manager Mari McKavanagh for hosting and assisting the studio during the week-long workshop.

Further, the studio recognizes all of the following individuals whose support, time and ideas have helped make this project a success:

PENN FACULTY AND ASSOCIATES Paul Amos, Managing Director, Wharton GIS Lab

Jonathan Barnett, Professor of Practice, PennDesign

Eric Bruun, Department of Electrical and Systems Engineering, Penn Engineering

Mark Kocent, Principal Planner, Office of the University Architect

John Landis, Crossways Professor of City and Regional Planning; Dept. Chair, PennDesign

Anne Papageorge, Vice President, Facilities and Real Estate Services

Paul Sehnert, Director of Real Estate Development, Facilities and Real Estate Services

Vukan Vuchic, UPS Foundation Professor of Transportation Engineering, Penn Engineering

Rachel Weinberger, Assistant Professor, PennDesign

PENN STAFFKate Daniel, Department Coordinator, PennPlanning

Roslynne Carter, Administrative Assistant, PennPlanning

Julianne Siracusa, Administrative Assistant, Deans Office, PennDesign

LONDON WORKSHOP FACULTYVincent Goodstadt, Honorary Professor, University of Manchester

Yoav Hagler, Associate Planner, America 2050, Regional Plan Association

Diana Mendes, Senior VP and National Director of Transit Planning, AECOM Arlington

Foster Nichols, Assistant VP, Manager Operations Planning, Parsons Brinckerhoff

Karen Rae, Deputy Administrator, Federal Railroad Administration

Petra Todorovich, Director, America 2050, Regional Plan Association

Polly Trottenberg, Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy, U.S. DOT


PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATESKip Bergstrom, Executive Director, Urban Redevelopment Commission, Stamford, Conn.

Steve Buckley, Deputy Commissioner for Transportation, Streets Dept., City of Philadelphia

Vishaan Chakrabarti, Director, Real Estate Development Program, Columbia University

Matthew Coogan, Director, The New England Transportation Institute

Rina Cutler, Deputy Mayor for Transportation and Utilities, City of Philadelphia

Calvin Davenger, Deputy Director of Aviation, Planning and Environmental Stewardship, Philadelphia International Airport

Al Engel, Vice President and High-Speed Rail Director, AECOM Transportation

Kyle Gradinger, Planner, Wallace Roberts & Todd

Hanan Kivett, AECOM

David Kooris, VP and Director, Connecticut Office, Regional Plan Association

Scott Maits, Vice President, The Delaware Valley Association of Rail Passengers

Derek Moore, Associate, Skidmore Owings & Merrill

Tony Rimikis, Senior Vice President, Brandywine Realty Trust

Jerry Sweeney, President and CEO, Brandywine Realty Trust

Graham Wiseman, Director, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill London

LONDON WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS Terence Bendixson, Deputy Secretary, Ind. Transport Commission, University of Southampton

Malcolm Buchanan, CBP, Buchanan Consultancy

Pat Castledine, Consents Manager, HS1 Ltd.

Paul Chapman, Managing Director, HS1 Ltd.

Chia-Lin Chen, Doctoral Candidate, University College London

Andrew Crudgington, Head of Policy, Institute of Civil Engineers

Harry Dimitriou, Bartlett Professor of Planning Studies, University College London

Iain Docherty, Department of Management, University of Glasgow

Martin Elton, Regional Director, Transportation, AECOM Kent

Moshe Givoni, Senior Researcher, School of Geog. and the Environment, University of Oxford

Stephen Glaister, Director, RAC Foundation

Philip Graham, Deputy Director, High Speed Rail at Department for Transport

Sir Peter Hall, Bartlett Professor of Planning and Regeneration, University College London

Terry Hill, Director, Transport Policy, ARUP

Peter Koning, Director, Transportation, AECOM St. Albans

Bryan Matthews, Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds

Chris Nash, Research Professor, Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds

John Preston, Director, Transportation Research Group, University of Southampton

Dan Ringelstein, Director of Urban Design and Planning, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill London

John Segal, Director of Rail, MVA Consultancy

Jim Steer, Director, Greengauge 21

Robin Thompson, Bartlett School, University College London

David Watters, International Director, AECOM London

Alan Wenban-Smith, Urban & Regional Policy

Ian Wray, Chief Planner, North West Regional Development Agency

CONTENTS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY i-xiii

INTRODUCTION 1

ANALYSIS OF EXISTING CONDITIONS 7

The Northeast Megaregion 8

The Economy 10

Anchored by Great Cities 12

Transportation 13

The Northeast Corridor: Major Challenges 22

DESIGNING A HIGH-SPEED RAIL SERVICE 27

What is High-speed Rail? 28

The Design Challenge 28

Design Pinciples for High-speed Rail in the Northeast 29

System Upgrade Typologies 30

Detailed Alignment Proposals 34

Capital Cost Estimates 44

Operations and Maintenance 45

Service Plan 46

Ridership Projections 50

DESIGNING LOCAL AND REGIONAL CONNECTIONS 53

Connect To Local Subcenters 55

Promote Transit, Walkability and Bicycle Access 56

Coordinate Fares, Ticketing, and Schedules 58

Existing Conditions and Recommendations 62

Transit, High-speed Rail and Regional Growth 69

REDESIGNING STATIONS AND STATION AREAS 71

Station and Station-area Design Principles 73

Create Magnetic Destinations 74

Function as Gateways 75

Catalyze Walkable, Compact, Centered Development 76

Connect to Regional and Interregional Transportation Systems 77


Strengthen Weak- and Strong-economy Cities 78

Station Design Interventions 79

Market East Station, Philadelphia 84

Ronkonkoma Station, MacArthur Airport 88

SUSTAINABILITY 91

Importance of High-speed Rail 92

Environmental Sustainability 94

Economic Sustainability 103

Social Sustainability 106

THE TRANSFORMATIVE POTENTIAL OF HIGH-SPEED RAIL 109

New Economic Geography 110

Hot and Cold Cities 112

Vignettes 116

COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS 119

Purpose of Cost-Benefit Analysis 120

Methodology 120

Analysis 122

Implications of the Cost-Benefit Analysis 123

IMPLEMENTATION: GOVERNANCE AND FINANCING 125

Governance 126

The Northeast Corridor Commission 128

Financing High-speed Rail 130

NECC High-speed Rail Trust Fund 132

CONCLUSION 137

APPENDICES 139

Capital Costs 140

Ridership Projections 142

Benefit-Cost Analysis 143

Presentation 144

REFERENCES AND CITATIONS 159

High-Speed Train: A French TGV train leaves the station.

iEXECUTIVE SUMMARY

If the United States Northeast Megaregion is to grow and prosper, its cities and states must work together to become a single, globally competitive economic powerhouse. This report outlines a bold new proposal for world-class high-speed rail in the Northeast Corridor, which will transform the economic geography of the whole Northeast.

By creating two dedicated high-speed rail (HSR) tracks from Boston to Washington, the Northeast Corridor will achieve significant improvements in capacity, reliability and travel times. Simultaneously addressing system-wide congestion and intercity connectivity, this new HSR network will sustain the Northeasts role as the countrys premier economic and cultural driver.

Megaregions are networks of linked metropolitan areas, with shared economies and infrastructure and natural resource systems, stretching from 200 to 600 miles across. They are too large to be easily traversed by automobiles and too small to be readily accessible by air. Megaregions in Asia and Europe have discovered that the scale of these places is uniquely suited to HSR and are moving aggressively to build these systems.

ii ExECUTIVE SUMMARY

Boston

Trenton

New York

Baltimore

New Haven

Washington DC

Wilmington

Providence

Philadelphia

0 1005025MilesREGIONAL RAIL TRANSPORTATION

Northeast Corridor

Amtrak Rail

Class 1 Freight Rail

Amtraks Northeast Corridor: Current service runs from Boston to Washington, D.C., with additional lines branching off into NEC states. The region is also served by an extensive freight rail network.

Northeast Rail Transportation Networks

A new HSR system in the Northeast will enable the region to meet the needs of a growing economy and population in the most environmentally responsible, cost-effective way. With this new mobility system in place, the Northeast can compete successfully with the great cities and nations of the worldmany of which are already reaping the benefits of their own high-speed rail networks.

Proposed new HSR service will cut travel times in half, with one-and-a-half-hour service between New York and Washington, D.C., and one-hour-45-minute service between New York and Boston. It will enable a six-fold increase in the frequency of intercity service and a ten-fold increase in the capacity of the system. This enhanced network will translate to improved connectivity for the Northeasts global citiesthe anchors of New York, Washington, Philadelphia and Bostonand increased potential for other cities along the corridor. This report proposes that new HSR stations be built in several underperforming areas of the Northeast, including downtown Baltimore, Philadelphia and Hartford, Conn., and several places on Long Island. It also brings every cold-market city in the corridor within an hours travel time of Boston, New York or Washington, the Northeasts hot-market centers. In so doing, this proposal creates the opportunity to bring all of these places into the Northeasts economic mainstream.

Building this transformative high-speed rail network will require champions both in government and from the grassroots. The Obama

MAKING HIGH-SPEED RAIL WORK IN THE NORTHEAST MEGAREGION iii

administration has committed to building HSR around the country, and this proposal captures that forward-looking commitment to present new ideas for innovative and long-term funding mechanisms. As the following pages detail, HSR will be most successful if it serves areas of dense population, high transit ridership and walkable station districts. Also necessary is use planning for transit-oriented development, cooperation among transportation authorities and investors and, perhaps most important, support from both the market and voters.

EXISTING CONDITIONS

Taken as a whole, the Northeast Corridor is the sixth-largest economy in the world, with a GDP of $2.59 trillion and a population of nearly 50 million. By 2050, the region is projected to grow to 70 million people with a $7 trillion GDP. However, with land consumption outpacing population growth, the amount of urbanized land in the NEC is expected to increase by more than 23,000 square miles. The region is anchored by five of the worlds great citiesBoston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C.and supported by a constellation of smaller cities and towns.

The megaregion is well served by existing road, rail and air networks, including 10 port authorities, 12 major airports and Amtraks Northeast Corridor services. However, road and air networks suffer from substantial congestion, dragging down travel times on those modes.

Providence

Boston

Connecticut

New York

Central New Jersey

Philadelphia

WilmingtonBaltimore

Washington, DC

0 1005025Miles

AccommodationsManufacturing

Retail

Professional Services

Healthcare

Finance

Government (Non-Federal)

Other

MAJOR REGIONAL EMPLOYERS BY INDUSTRY

Land impact: The Northeast Corridor is full of challengesroad congestion, increased urbanizationbut also offers great potential for diverse industries and a skilled workforce to work more closely together.

Major Regional Employers by Industry

iv ExECUTIVE SUMMARY

Among Amtraks services, the Acela Express is the fastest, with an average speed around 70 miles an hour. At these speeds, the Acela can get passengers from Washington to New York in two hours and 45 minutes, and from New York to Boston in three and a half hours.

Although the Northeast Corridor is the busiest rail route in the nation, it faces a number of challenges including negotiating a myriad of rail operators, interacting with freight, poor on-time performance, speed and capacity constraints, and the ongoing costs of maintenance and incremental improvements.

DESIGN: HIGH-SPEED RAIL LINE

In order to provide high-speed rail service that achieves significant and reliable trip-time reductions, the exisiting network must be dramatically expanded in capacity. Incremental improvements will not succeed. Two new tracks, dedicated to high-speed trains, are required for the entire

Southern alignment: Between Washington, D.C., and New York City, dedicated high-speed tracks travel new alignments through the city centers of Baltimore and Philadelphia, enabling trains to maintain shorter travel times throughout the route.

Meriden

Hartford

Worcester

Nassau Hub

Philadelphia (Market East)

Baltimore (Charles Center)

Tolland (UConn)

Philadelphia Airport

Farmingdale - Route 110Jamaica - JFK Airport

Terryville (SUNY Stony Brook)

Ronkonkoma - MacArthur Airport

MetroWest

Odenton

Riverside

Paoli

Exton

Woburn

Tyrone

Mystic

Hudson

Yonkers

Windsor

Ardmore

Amherst

Altoona

Westerly

Quantico

Manassas

Kingston

Culpeper

Aberdeen

Rockville

Mount JoyLancaster

Lewistown

Haverhill

Woodbridge

Rhinecli

Pittseld

Parkesburg

Newark, DE

Middletown

Huntingdon

Harrisburg

Framingham

Bridgeport

Alexandria

Springeld

Schenectady

Martinsburg

DowningtownCoatesville

Brattleboro

Poughkeepsie

Old Saybrook

New Rochelle

Windsor Locks

New Brunswick

Harpers Ferry

Elizabethtown

Croton Harmon

New Carrollton

Fredericksburg

Cornwells Heights

Princeton Junction

Lorton (Auto Train)

Albany - Rensselaer

Route 128 - Westwood

Philadelphia (North)

Franconia - Springeld

Newark Liberty International Airport

Philadelphia (30th St)

Newark (Penn Station)New York (Moynihan Station)

Trenton

Stamford

New Haven

Wilmington

Providence

BWI Airport

Boston (Back Bay)

Metropark (Iselin)

Boston (South Station)

Baltimore (Penn Station)

Washington, DC (Union Station)

New London

NY

PA

MD

DEVA

RICT

MA

NJ

Northeast RegionalAcela Express

Other Amtrak Service

NORTHEAST CORRIDOR

AMTRAK RAIL

COMMUTER RAIL

PROPOSED RAIL

Proposed/Upgraded Service

0 20 4010Miles

MAKING HIGH-SPEED RAIL WORK IN THE NORTHEAST MEGAREGION v

length of the corridor from Washington, D.C. to Boston. The addition of these tracks will make existing capacity available to commuter services and freight traffic, reduce trip times to be competitive with air and auto travel, and dramatically increase the viable connections between residence and workplace. By improving service with a new alignment and service plan, the Northeast Corridor has the potential to triple its current annual Amtrak ridership by 2040, serving more than 55 million annual riders by 2040.

The proposed two-track dedicated service between New Yorks Penn-Moynihan Station and Bostons South Station may follow a significantly different alignment than the existing NEC. Simultaneously solving the problems of tightly curving and constrained alignments through New York and southwestern Connecticut and the isolation of Long Island from the rest of the Northeast, the new alignment proceeds east from New York across Long Island, then north through a new, three-track tunnel under Long Island Sound to New Haven. From there it travels

Northern alignment: Two options exist between New York and New Haven. An upgraded existing route from New Rochelle to New Haven, which is already heavily used, has a constrained and circuitous right-of-way and would likely have NIMBY concerns; an alternative route, which travels through Long Island and inland through Connecticut and Massachusetts, can compete for the service.

Meriden

Hartford

Worcester

Nassau Hub

Philadelphia (Market East)

Baltimore (Charles Center)

Tolland (UConn)

Philadelphia Airport

Farmingdale - Route 110Jamaica - JFK Airport

Terryville (SUNY Stony Brook)

Ronkonkoma - MacArthur Airport

MetroWest

Odenton

Riverside

Paoli

Exton

Woburn

Tyrone

Mystic

Hudson

Yonkers

Windsor

Ardmore

Amherst

Altoona

Westerly

Quantico

Manassas

Kingston

Culpeper

Aberdeen

Rockville

Mount JoyLancaster

Lewistown

Haverhill

Woodbridge

Rhinecli

Pittseld

Parkesburg

Newark, DE

Middletown

Huntingdon

Harrisburg

Framingham

Bridgeport

Alexandria

Springeld

Schenectady

Martinsburg

DowningtownCoatesville

Brattleboro

Poughkeepsie

Old Saybrook

New Rochelle

Windsor Locks

New Brunswick

Harpers Ferry

Elizabethtown

Croton Harmon

New Carrollton

Fredericksburg

Cornwells Heights

Princeton Junction

Lorton (Auto Train)

Albany - Rensselaer

Route 128 - Westwood

Philadelphia (North)

Franconia - Springeld

Newark Liberty International Airport

Philadelphia (30th St)

Newark (Penn Station)New York (Moynihan Station)

Trenton

Stamford

New Haven

Wilmington

Providence

BWI Airport

Boston (Back Bay)

Metropark (Iselin)

Boston (South Station)

Baltimore (Penn Station)

Washington, DC (Union Station)

New London

NY

PA

MD

DEVA

RICT

MA

NJ

Northeast RegionalAcela Express

Other Amtrak Service

NORTHEAST CORRIDOR

AMTRAK RAIL

COMMUTER RAIL

PROPOSED RAIL

Proposed/Upgraded Service

0 20 4010Miles

vi ExECUTIVE SUMMARY

inland to Hartford, then along the I-84 corridor toward Worcester, and finally east to Boston along the Massachusetts Turnpike. As an alternative northern alignment, full Amtrak service will be retained or expanded along the existing coastal route, with New Haven becoming the new linchpin of the northern end. The southern half of the dedicated high-speed rail line relies mostly on existing right-of-way from Washingtons Union Station to New Yorks Penn-Moynihan Station. Here, the physical challenge is primarily an urban onethe tricky alignments through Philadelphia and Baltimore limit speeds for the whole line. Solving two problems with one strategy, the proposed alignments utilize tunnels to dramatically improve speeds through these cities while also creating new downtown stations in areas ripe for economic development. Further linkages include direct service to Philadelphia and Baltimores international airports and improved regional connections.

Proposed service would reduce travel times between Washington and New York to one and a half hours, between Philadelphia and New York to 37 minutes, and between New York and Boston to one hour 45 minutes, at an estimated cost of $98.1 billion. The line will be built in phases, starting with the New York-Philadelphia connection in the south and New Haven-Boston in the north, followed by completion of the southern end to Washington, D.C., and eventually the connection of the northern end through Long Island.

DESIGN: INTERMODAL LINKS AND

REGIONAL CONNECTIVITY

Rail, at any speed, performs better when its connected to other modes. In order for any high-speed rail network to succeed, it must be fully integrated with the connecting regional transportation networks: not just commuter trains, but subways, light-rail systems, cars, buses and planes (for long-distance travel) as well. This not only increases ridership; it also supports concentrated, dense development.

Links between modes must be seamless, both physically and temporally. They require an integrated fare systemriders should be able to swipe one card to get from origin to destination, no matter the number of different modes they takeand closely coordinated schedules with an absolute minimum of waiting. The more times passengers have to consult a schedule, the more likely they are to find a different way to get there.

Since high-speed rail will need to stop in central locations in the Northeasts cities, the regional transportation networks need to ensure that underserved areas have suitable connections to the HSR network.Fare structures need to reflect the Northeasts economic and social diversity. If the megaregion is to realize all of HSRs potential benefits, residents from all walks of life must be able to access the train, drawing on as broad a passenger base as possible.

MAKING HIGH-SPEED RAIL WORK IN THE NORTHEAST MEGAREGION vii

The Market Street District: By bringing high-speed rail through Philadelphia at a new Center City station, the entire corridor becomes an economic anchor for the city, stretching from east of Market East Station to west of 30th Street Station.

DESIGN: STATIONS AND STATION AREAS

To achieve the land use benefits of HSR investment, cities and regions must define and implement development and management plans to direct and coordinate public and private investment. Stations and station areas must be planned and constructed to value viable public spaces and an active public realm, encourage private investment and public/private partnerships in and around the stations and promote social equity. For areas in and around train stations along the Northeast Corridor, transportation can direct the movement of people in a way that catalyzes development. In many cities, high-speed rail will be a catalyst to develop stations as nodes that direct growth. When done successfully, this can create new city centers, and extend and strengthen existing central business districts.

In Philadelphia, a new Market East Station becomes the centrally located stop for high-speed rail. This station works in tandem with 30th Street Station to restore the Market Street corridor from Center City to University City. By creating a cohesive visual element along Market Street, connecting the Schuylkill River waterfront to the University of Pennsylvania and drawing on Old Citys tourism, these two complementary stations can create an energy that elevates the entire corridor.

A new alignment through Baltimore creates a station at the Charles Center, in the heart of the citys central business district. Besides taking advantage of a straighter path that will allow for faster speeds in and out

viii ExECUTIVE SUMMARY

Market St

Chestnut St

Filbert St9t

h St

10th

St

11th

St

12th

St

2000N 400 800 ft

Baltimore St

Redwood St

2000N 400 800 ft

Fayette St

Lombard St

Ligh

t St

Cha

rles

St

Han

over

St

Hop

kins

Pl

How

ard

St

Baltimore: The new high-speed rail station at Charles Center is strategically located in the citys central business district.

Philadelphia: A remade Market East Station anchors high-speed rail in Center City, complementing 30th Street Station just across the Schuylkill River.

MAKING HIGH-SPEED RAIL WORK IN THE NORTHEAST MEGAREGION ix

of the city, the new station can capitalize on a vibrant network of public spaces in the surrounding area.

Finally, urban design, development and management guidelines for the Northeast Corridor will ensure that stations and station areas are constructed in a way that values viable public space and an active public realm, enables public/private partnerships to fund development and promotes social equity for those living near or accessing the stations.

SUSTAINABILITY

When looking at environmental, economic and social factors related to the need for increased mobility in a growing region, high-speed rail is the most effective way to achieve an overall sustainability strategy in the Northeast. Rails performance ranks highest in the five key aspects of environmental sustainability: land use, air quality, water quality, energy and connectivity. Transportation is responsible for 32 percent of U.S. carbon emissions, which have been linked to global warming and decreased air quality. More trains mean fewer new roads built, which reduces the amount of impervious surfaces whose runoff affects water quality. In terms of energy, even if trains are powered by coal-generated electricity, they reduce our dependence on foreign oil. And when quality regional transportation systems link to high-speed rail, connectivity and its environmental benefits follow.

FUEL WASTED DUE TO TRAFFIC CONGESTION

BOSTONE F0

10

2030

40

50

60PROVIDENCEE F

0

10

2030

40

50

60NEW HAVENE F

0

10

2030

40

50

60STAMFORDE F

0

10

2030

40

50

60

NEW YORKE F0

10

2030

40

50

60PHILADELPHIAE F

0

10

2030

40

50

60BALTIMOREE F

0

10

2030

40

50

60WASHINGTON DCE F

0

10

2030

40

50

60

ANNUAL NUMBER OF GALLONS WASTED PER DRIVER 2007City names denote the entire urban areaData: Texas Transportation Institutes Urban Mobility Report

x ExECUTIVE SUMMARY

High-speed rails central locations support and encourage greater concentration of development around stations. When a train station becomes a center-city hub, activity is concentrated there, discouraging sprawl and allowing for businesses to feed off of one another.

High-speed rail can promote social sustainability. By widening the market of jobs available to workers, HSR levels the playing field, provided it is affordable enough to be accessed by populations.

TRANSFORMATIONS

The proposed high-speed rail system, complemented by the improved connectivity of regional and inter/intracity transit, has the potential to transform the spatial relationships of the Northeast Megaregion. High-speed rail improves connectivity between businesses, facilitating the movement of labor and goods resulting in a new economic geographyone that may be particularly valuable for the knowledge industries that will benefit from agglomeration economies. This new geography will result in economic growth in the corridors major cities, making the Northeast Corridor more competitive in the global market. Improved connectivity will be particularly valuable for new household formation and extended work-home distances in newly urbanized areas.

Large cities with major economies require a different development strategy than cities those with growing economies. Places like New York, Boston and Washingtoncities that are growing, and have higher educational attainment and area median incomeswill benefit differently from high-speed rail than Philadelphia, Baltimore and the smaller cities along the corridor. These places need a strategy that ensures they wont lose economic activity as a result of their increased accessibility to strong-market cities. Furthermore, none of these cities can be considered all strong or all weak: While New York, for example, has higher educational attainment, it also has higher unemployment. Economic development strategies, therefore, must vary carefully from city to city and region to region. Importantly, all of the weak-market cities served by this new HSR system will be brought within a one-hour travel time of Boston, New York or Washington, the megaregions three big strong-market metros. This will create the opportunity for underperforming places to strengthen their links to the larger regional labor and housing markets, innovation networks and agglomeration economies of Northeasts strongest regional economies.

MAKING HIGH-SPEED RAIL WORK IN THE NORTHEAST MEGAREGION xi

INCLUDED IN ANALYSIS

NOT INCLUDED IN ANALYSIS

ticket fares reduced emissions reduced congestion time savings

shift in energy sources

short- and long-term jobs

recentralization induced development

other potential effects

increased safety

other environmental benefits

global economic competitiveness

connecting networks of people

?

COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS

A generation of transportation projects has been evaluated, often by transportation agencies, on the basis of a ratio between the benefits they engender and their costs. Analytical literature suggests that quantifying of benefits is difficult to do and that the methodologies used for cost-benefit analysis inherently favor smaller projects as well as those with low, or no, capital cost.

Notwithstanding these limitations, the cost-benefit analysisprepared for the proposed NEC HSR with ticket fares, emissions reduction, improved connectivity, time savings and increased safety as its benefitsshows a positive benefit-cost ratio, indicating the economic feasibility of high-speed rail. But, more important, the investment brings broad and long-lastingalthough less measurablebenefits to jobs, land use, development, connectivity, economic competitiveness, energy use and the environment.

Cost-benefit analysis: Not all effects of high-speed rail can be easily quantified. This analysis for proposed service accounts for the direct impacts listed, but indirect benefits can be a boon to the region as well.

xii ExECUTIVE SUMMARY

IMPLEMENTATION

In order to successfully build a new interstate high-speed rail network, creative methods of governance, financing and environmental review will need to come together. Nearly all of the countries that have initiated HSR systems have done so with funding from national governments, and this should be done here as well. A matching contribution from Northeast states and regions will help meet capital costs, and a portion of the up-front investment could be recouped through a long-term lease of the corridor, as the U.K. is now proposing to do with its HS1 line, where an expected 40 percent of the public investment is expected to be returned to the government.

Since funding will need to be largely from the federal government, a new agency, known as the Northeast Corridor Commission (NECC), will bring the states, metropolitan areas, Amtrak and other regional, commuter and freight rail operators to the same table to figure out how to cooperate in order to get federal dollars to the region. This new entity will manage the implementation process and will ensure that discrete agencies are talking with each other and working together toward the ultimate goal of a rail network that benefits the entire region.

There needs to be a system for dedicated and sustainable financing that can handle the large costs, multiyear planning and construction period and complicated jurisdictional structure of building in the Northeast Megaregion. The responsibility of financing the construction of HSR and ensuring continued funding should be taken on by the federal government, or a regional agency, because it has the capacity to manage the risk of the project and realize the long-term benefits. By approaching HSR as a long-term investment, the government provides an opportunity

A new governance model: The Northeast Corridor Commission can achieve the fundamental goals of building high-speed rail in the NEC, preserving unified corridor operations, increasing states involvement, balancing operators needs, obtaining dedicated revenue streams, and successfully competing for federal HSR grants.

Amtrak + Other

Rail Operating

Companies

Federal Railroad

Administration RIMD NJ NY PA

Northeast Corridor

Commission

Planning

and DesignConstruction Dispatching Maintenance

DECT DC MA

MAKING HIGH-SPEED RAIL WORK IN THE NORTHEAST MEGAREGION xiii

for the private sector to invest in the HSR system through public-private partnerships, where the government can recoup a portion of its investment in HSR, and where funding can be dedicated, sustainable and guaranteed. Public financing mechanisms include the creation of a Northeast Corridor Commission Trust Fund, government grants and a range of tools to cover operating costs including gas taxes, interstate tolls, user fees, value added tax and station area sales tax. After the public sector has taken on the financing and building HSR, opportunities develop for subsequent private sector investment.

CONCLUSION

The implementation of high-speed rail in the Northeast Corridor is the key to unlocking the economic growth and competitive advantage of the Northeast Megaregion. Investment in high-speed rail in the Northeast Corridor is essential, and, over time, each of the other 10 U.S. megaregions should see some for of HSR service as key elements of the National Rail Plan, which can transform the connectivity, economic geography and performance of the entire country.

With the federal government committed to high-speed rail, the country is poised to take up the challenge of such a substantial, transformative new infrastructure projectone that can and will fundamentally change the way our cities work. The 21st-century narrative will be one not of global cities, but of global megaregions. When megaregions work as unified markets, strongly linked internally and externally, as many of our European and Asian counterparts already do, they can achieve the investment and innovation necessary to compete on an international stage.

For the past two centuries, each generation of Americans has embraced the latest transportation mode to shape the countrys mobility systems and with them, the nations destiny. Now is the time for American high-speed rail that will sustain the countrys economic potential through the 21st century. By building the nations premier world-class high-speed rail network, the Northeast can lead the way.

Eurostar trains at Waterloo Station, London.

0101

1

This report proposes a new, world-class high-speed rail (HSR) system for the U.S. Northeast Megaregion. It also examines the benefits that such a system would offer in terms of mobility, economic growth, environmental sustainability and social equity. It investigates the increased travel capacity the megaregion will need to enable its projected growth in jobs, population and economic activity to be achieved by 2050. To meet these needs, the megaregion must build two new dedicated HSR tracks from Boston to Washington, D.C., that will provide frequent, reliable and well-priced HSR service throughout the megaregion.

The Northeast Megaregion, stretching from Maine to Virginia, was first identified nearly half a century ago by French geographer Jean Gottman in his book Megalopolis. It encompasses 13 states, the District of Columbia and five major metropolitan regions: Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington. Megaregions are interconnected networks of metropolitan areas, with shared economies, infrastructure and natural resource systems. The Northeast is one of 11 emerging megaregions in the United States. These places range from 200 to 600 miles across and are too large to be easily traversed by automobile and too small to be readily accessible by air.

INTRODUCTION

2 01 - INTRODUCTION

High-speed rail is uniquely suited to megaregions and can enable them to achieve their full economic potential. In this sense, President Obamas vision for a national HSR network builds upon President Eisenhowers 1956 vision for the national interstate highway system, which underpinned the nations rapid growth in the second half of the 20th century. In much the same way that limited-access highways enabled the emergence of metropolitan regions over the past half century, HSR links will enable the growth and development of 21st-century megaregions.

BUILDING BLOCKS

In the spring of 2010, this planning studio at the University of Pennsylvania took on the challenge of outlining a world-class HSR system for the Northeast Megaregion. The studio worked closely with America 2050, a national infrastructure planning program led by the Regional Plan Association, an organization responsible for long-range planning and policy development aimed at managing population growth. Drawing on their vast data resources and industry experience provided much of the foundation upon which our research was formed.

The Business Alliance for Northeast Mobility, a coalition of business and civic leaders for Northeast cities, served as the outside client for the studio. The studio was comprised of 18 city and regional planning graduate students with concentrations ranging from transportation planning to urban development. The studios instructors were Robert D.

What we need, then, is a smart transportation system equal to the needs of the 21st century. A system that reduces travel times and increases mobility. A system that reduces congestion and boosts productivity. A system that reduces destructive emissions and creates jobs.

President Barack Obama, 2009

Our unity as a nation is sustained by free communication of thought and by easy transportation of people and goods.

President Dwight Eisenhower, 1955

Birth of the interstates: A 1947 plan for cross-country highways.

MAKING HIGH-SPEED RAIL WORK IN THE NORTHEAST MEGAREGION 3

Yaro, Professor of Practice, and Marilyn Taylor, Dean of the University of Pennsylvania School of Design and Paley Professor at Penn. A team of leading U.S. and British experts on transportation and regional planning, transit-oriented development and station-area development projects also advised the studio.

UNDERSTANDING THE SYSTEM

This studio has developed a holistic approach to high-speed rail that encompasses elements of system design, regional connectivity, station-area development, sustainability and implementation. This report differs from earlier proposals primarily in scope, but also in focus. Previous reports such as the Amtrak Master Plan outline the steps necessary to maintain existing infrastructure, but achieve only modest reductions in travel times and limited increases in capacity. At a total cost of more than $52 billion, Amtraks Master Plan nets few improvements beyond the present system while leaving the region to face growing concerns of capacity and sustainability.

The Penn studio has taken a decidedly different approach in how it views the system, choosing to focus on a new, complementary system of high-speed rail that would be capable of significantly reducing travel times between cities while providing huge increases in efficiency and capacity. A system of this nature would move beyond the important goal of simply bringing the existing Northeast Corridor to a state of good repair. It will

An administrations vision: A national high-speed rail network, as proposed by the Obama administration.

Designated HSR CorridorNortheast CorridorOther Passenger Rail

4 01 - INTRODUCTION

provide much greater net benefits while avoiding alternatives such as highway widening or airport expansion, which are fraught with their own problems.

KEY FINDINGS

This report outlines a number of benefit streams that would result from a new Northeast HSR system. These include significant reductions in travel time, increased frequency of service and improved reliability. These attributes would help integrate employment and housing markets and innovation networks among city pairs like New York and Philadelphia while increasing accessibility for their surrounding regions. By building new stations in several of the underperforming areas, including downtown Baltimore, Philadelphia, suburban Long Island and downtown Hartford, it would also promote revitalization of these places. And it will bring all of the regions underperforming cities served by HSR within an hour of the Northeasts hot regional centers, Boston, New York and Washington, D.C., creating the opportunity to revitalize all of these places.

The new Northeast HSR system will also reduce airport and highway congestion, greenhouse gas emissions and urban sprawl across the megaregion. Adding two dedicated high-speed tracks will free up valuable capacity at airports for long-haul flights, reduce congestion on roadways already at or near capacity and increase the availability of space on commuter trains along the entire corridor.

Along with the megaregion-wide gains outlined in this report, much of this report focuses on station-area design that will bring important benefits to every city center served by this new system. Stations will become gateways for the cities and magnets for new economic development.

2010 LONDON WORKSHOP

In order to better understand the political and financial commitments necessary to make HSR investments in the United States, the studio traveled to London in March 2010 for a week-long workshop with government officials and HSR experts who are engaged with the British governments proposed new HS2 HSR link from London to Scotland. This link is now viewed by officials from all major parties in Britain as the foundation for a national HSR network. The studio also met with planners and managers of the newly opened HS1 high-speed service linking Londons St. Pancras Station with the Channel Tunnel and new HSR commuter services in Southeast England. This project helped the studio understand the limitations of potential public-private partnerships

The U.K. Experience

During the course of the semester, students traveled to London, England, for a 10-day intensive study on high-speed rail planning and development in the U.K. Of particular interest to the group was the introduction of Britains HS2 high-speed rail system, which brought to light the many features and challenges that the U.K. and the Northeast Corridor share.

In the following pages you will find a number of Lessons From London highlighting some of the most relevant material gathered from our meetings, site visits and presentations.

LESSON FROM LONDON


to finance, build and operate HSR services. Finally, when in England the studio met with British scholars in London, Oxford and Leeds, including Sir Peter Hall, who reported on their research, which confirmed the potential to achieve significant economic transformations on the cities and regions served by HSR systems.

SUMMARY

This report outlines the role that a world-class HSR system will play in enabling the future economic development, accessibility and sustainability for the whole Northeast Megaregion and its component cities.

It proposes the construction of a high-speed rail system that will fundamentally change the economic geography of the Northeast by enabling greater agglomeration of industries, shrinking travel times between cities like New York and Philadelphia, and creating expanded employment and housing opportunities for the Northeasts growing population. This system will also relieve congestion, reduce carbon emissions, increase productivity, promote more compact development patterns and improve urban connectivity. In summary, the HSR system proposed in this report will enable the Northeast to unleash its economic potential, while accommodating a projected 20 million additional residents by 2050. Moving forward with this proposal will, however, require a new level of public support and political leadership for the estimated $100 billion required to achieve this vision.

Comparing the systems: The Northeast Corridor and the U.K.s proposed HS2 line connect almost the same populations over similar distances, providing an excellent case study for high-speed rail in the NEC.

457 MILES

50 MILLION PEOPLE

400 MILES

51 MILLION PEOPLE

NORTHEAST CORRIDOR PROPOSED HS2 SYSTEM

The Northeast: An aerial overview.

02The Northeast Megaregion presents a complex set of opportunities and challenges. This section articulates in some detail the importance of the megaregion, both nationally and internationally, as well as the benefits of connectivity, population concentration and job growth. It provides readers with the context necessary to understand design solutions that follow in subsequent sections.

Transportation is a critical factor in the continued success of the megaregion, which has a robust network of roads, rail and air infrastructure. In particular, the Northeast has the advantage of a direct rail connection between Washington, D.C., and Boston: the Northeast Corridor. But much of that infrastructure is at or above capacity, or is beyond its useful life. Some proposed upgrades to the corridor will therefore be discussed in detail.

As an inventory of current conditions in the megaregion shows, the Northeast represents this countrys most strategic investment in passenger rail travel, particularly high-speed rail. Its population size, economic strength, transit connections and important geographic nodes make it a region unique to the United States and ultimately to the world.

ANALYSIS OFEXISTING CONDITIONS

02

7

8 02 - ANALYSIS OF ExISTING CONDITIONS

49.5 millionPeople

$2.59 trillionGDP

162Fortune 500 headquarters

THE NORTHEAST MEGAREGION

The Northeast consists of 13 states along the Eastern seaboard from Virginia north to Maine, plus the District of Columbia, and is the most densely populated place in the country.

Of greater importance to this analysis, however, is what is commonly referred to as the Northeast Megaregionthe network of metropolitan regions spanning from the Washington, D.C., metro area about 500 miles north to the Boston metro area. The megaregion is home to nearly 50 million people,1 who together produce about $2.59 trillion in gross domestic product annually.2 While it is the largest megaregion in the country in terms of population and economy, it covers just 60,000 square miles, or only 2 percent of total land area in the United States.3 As such, it is the densest part of the country, with the seven most densely populated states and nine of the top 11. Put another way, every state in this megaregion is more densely populated than California.

PROJECTED GROWTH

The Northeast Megaregion is also projected to grow to 58 million people by 2025 and 70 million by 2050.4 Over this same period, the economy has the potential to nearly triple in size, to a $7 trillion annual GDP.5 While these projections paint a bright picture, the future is not without its potential challenges: land and resource constraints, global competition, increased congestion and environmental issues, to name just a few. Not surprisingly, these factors are all also projected to increase substantially over the coming decades.

LAND USE AND CONSUMPTION

Although the Northeast Megaregion is the densest and most highly urbanized area in the country, relatively little of its land is actually built out with cities, towns, roads or other human habitations. In fact, just 19 percent of land area falls into this category, with much more used for agriculture (20 percent) or even forest (40 percent).6 This is quickly changing, however, as urban areas continue to expand.

From 1982 to 1997, the amount of urbanized land in the Northeast increased by 39 percent to accommodate a population increase of just 6.9 percent.7 On average, each of these new residents consumed 5.5 times as much land as an existing resident. While it is likely that much of this conversion was the result of intraregional movement by existing residents from central to peripheral locations, as a trend it has profound implications for the long-term viability of the megaregion.

Low-density development drives up public costs for the provision and

19%

20%

40%

21%

Developed

Agriculture

Forest

Water

Land cover: Northeast Megaregion.

Vital statistics: Size and importance of the Northeast Megaregion.


Boston

Trenton

New York

Baltimore

New Haven

Washington DC

Wilmington

Providence

Philadelphia

Urbanized Area, 2000



R

R

R

R

RR

RR

R

0 1005025MilesPROJECTED URBANIZATION

Northeast Megaregion

maintenance of infrastructure. While sufficiently low densities may eliminate water and sewerage costs by relying on wells and septic systems, these savings are offset by the additional costs of building new local roads and expanding existing collectors and arterials. There are also large externality costs associated with such patterns, including habitat degradation and fragmentation, loss of functional open space and increased runoff and water contamination resulting from land compaction, loss of land cover and additional impervious surfaces.8

Yet the trend still appears to be headed toward more rather than less land consumption. An analysis by the Regional Plan Association predicts that if current trends and policies continue, between 2000 and 2025 urbanized land will increase by 95 percent in the region, and then again by 32 percent between 2025 and 2050.9 That is, if current trends continue to 2050, more than 23,000 more square miles of land will be urbanizedroughly twice the extent of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Land use impacts directly affect climate change. For example, models predict that New York City can expect a doubling or tripling of the number of summer days over 90 degrees Fahrenheit by 2050.10 And climate change affects the entire megaregion, transcending jurisdictional and political lines. It will be up to states and other regional organizations to work together to mitigate externalities and slow this rate of land use consumption.


WESTERN EUROPE 16.4% area 18.1% population 23.7% GDP


JAPAN 162.9% area 56.5% population 85.8% GDP

PERSIAN GULF 11.8% area 36.9% population 146.1% GDP

AFRICA 2.0% area 7.2% population 291.7% GDP

REGIONAL COMPARISONSTHE NORTHEAST VS. THE REST OF THE WORLD













THE ECONOMY

As an economy, the Northeast is a powerhouse. With a $2.59 trillion gross domestic product in 2005,11 it represents 20 percent of the countrys overall GDP, or 4.2 percent of world GDP.12 If it were a country unto itself, it would be the worlds sixth-largest economy, behind only the entire United States, China, Japan, Germany and Franceand just ahead of the United Kingdom.13 It also houses world centers of government, finance, technology, healthcare and a number of other major industries.

By several measures the megaregion is also one of the most competitive places in the world. For example, with just more than half the population of Japan (a country which has had phenomenal success with high-speed rail), the Northeast produces more than 85 percent of Japans GDPa direct result of using human capital and resources more efficiently. This efficiency is even clearer when looking at regions like the Persian Gulf; at only 37 percent of its size, the Northeast produces 146 percent of its GDP. This story could be repeated across the world.14

The relatively high density of the Northeast also provides a comparative advantage, as what are essentially five regional markets combine to produce phenomenal economic output. The proximity of population and job centers to each other opens doors for networking, innovation and entrepreneurship, which have been the lifeblood of the economy for decades.

MAJOR EMPLOYMENT SECTORS

The Northeast Megaregion is home to every imaginable type of company, from high finance to higher education, healthcare and pharmaceuticals to small businesses that span the entire breadth of industry sectors. Of particular note is the concentration of jobs and employment adjacent to the Northeast Corridorthe rail line that serves as the regions transportation spine. Counties adjacent to (that is, within five miles of) this corridor tend to be service industries, with the top five employers including healthcare, professional, scientific, technical and financial services.15 These types of industries have historically benefited from connectivity and increases in information sharing across networks. And although manufacturing has declined significantly in the region since its heyday, plenty still exists in areas slightly further away from the dense urban centers.

The comparative advantage that the Northeast enjoys over the rest of the nation can be effectively summarized using location quotients, which provide an indication of regional specialization by industry. The Northeast has a workforce that specializes in information industries, education and health services.16 These industries include subsectors

International comparisons: The Northeast is competitive on a global scale.


such as publishing houses, research universities and medical institutions, all of which require well-educated labor pools. They also must innovate to remain competitive and include knowledge-producing occupations. Anchor institutions such as medical facilities and universities are assets and economic development generators in this type of environment. Their immobility ensures stable employment, and the institutions are often deeply invested in the broader economic development of the region.

One of the great engines of innovation and entrepreneurship in the Northeast is a rich network of education and research institutions. According to a recent Academic Ranking of World Universities report, eight of the worlds top 20 research universities are in the megaregion.17 This concentration of top institutions draws some of the worlds top talent to the Northeast as students or researchers, and attracts them to stay with associated jobs in technology and other related sectors. Education is not simply a competitive advantage for the region, but truly a driver of the economy and a major factor in its continued global competitiveness. Tying these and other anchor institutions more seamlessly together across the megaregion could pave the way toward an even more successful, more competitive future.

Providence

Boston

Connecticut

New York

Central New Jersey

Philadelphia

WilmingtonBaltimore

Washington, DC

0 1005025Miles

AccommodationsManufacturing

Retail

Professional Services

Healthcare

Finance

Government (Non-Federal)

Other

MAJOR REGIONAL EMPLOYERS BY INDUSTRYLocation quotients: The Northeasts specialized economy.18

World Rank Institution

1 Harvard University

2 Stanford University

3 University of California, Berkeley

4 University of Cambridge

5 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

6 California Institute of Technology

7 Columbia University

8 Princeton University

9 University of Chicago

10 University of Oxford

11 Yale University

12 Cornell University

13 University of California, Los Angeles

14 University of California, San Diego

15 University of Pennsylvania

16 University of Washington

17 University of Wisconsin - Madison

18 University of California, San Francisco

19 The Johns Hopkins University20 The University of Tokyo

Top 20 global research universities: Eight are in the Northeast Megaregion, with seven along the Northeast Corridor.


Washington, D.C.

Baltimore

Philadelphia

Boston

New York City

ANCHORED BY GREAT CITIES

But this story is about more than just numbers. The economy of the Northeast Megaregion is anchored by a string of cities that are among the countrys oldest, largest and most influential. They serve as job centers and engines of entrepreneurship, bringing people together for business or simply to exchange ideas. Of equal importance, however, is that they are also hubs of American culture, media, history, tourism and retailing. Together, they represent the megaregions largest investment in the built environment.

WASHINGTON, D.C.: The political capital of the United States and southern boundary of the Northeast Corridor, this global knowledge city encapsulates government, history and culture, and serves as a home to several prestigious universities, numerous federal agencies and national centers for the arts.

BALTIMORE: This city of neighborhoods is home to major education and medical institutions. A former industrial town, the renowned port city now hosts a growing share of the megaregions financial, research and health services industries.

PHILADELPHIA: A commercial and education center, Philadelphia is home to some of the worlds top universities and research facilities. The citys rich history also makes it a hub for landmark architecture, world-class restaurants, renowned cultural institutions and growing tourism.

NEW YORK CITY: The economic engine of the megaregion and the nation, New York anchors the middle of the Northeast Corridor. The nations most populous city is also the financial and commercial capital of the country, the home of more than 25 Fortune 500 companies, and a world center of arts, media and culture.

BOSTON: The unofficial capital of New England, Boston is a global center for education and research, complemented by a strong biotechnology industry. The citys rich history predates the founding of the country.

The megaregion also contains a constellation of other cities and towns. Interwoven among the regions five large metropolises is a tapestry of medium-sized cities, small towns and historic communities. They represent national historic treasures like Plymouth, Mass., and Mystic, Conn.; places of incredible natural beauty such as Cape Cod and the Berkshires, Mass.; world-renowned centers of education and research like New Haven, Conn., and New Brunswick and Princeton, N.J.; and former industrial boomtowns and state capitals which, with the right combination of investments, are poised to grow again, such as Trenton, N.J., and Providence, R.I.


drive alone

carpool

public transportation

walk, bicycle, etc

work from home

20%

40%

60%

80%

TRANSPORTATION

The Northeast benefits from an intricate web of transportation networks, including the nations densest concentration of urban, regional intercity rail networks, which weave together major cities and small towns, connecting people, places, goods and ideas. As the countrys first major industrialized area, the Northeast has seen enormous investment in transportation infrastructure over time, starting with freight and passenger rail systems and continuing to the present with highways and airports. The Northeast was also home to what was arguably the nations first infrastructure mega-project: the Erie Canal, which served as a conduit for raw materials and finished goods between the East Coast and Midwest, and became the first high-volume supply line for the development of the interior of the country. These projects have continued throughout the regions history, from the nations first subway system in Boston to its recent Central Artery/Tunnel project (also know as The Big Dig).

The Northeast is also well-served by extensive road and rail (local, regional and long-haul) networks that facilitate large flows of people and freight across and within the megaregion. Amtraks Northeast Corridor services, for example, carried approximately 18.9 million passengers in 2009,19 while intracorridor air traffic totaled approximately 11.2 million trips.20 The region has 90 percent of the nations heavy-rail ridership on its extensive public transportation networks, with people in the largest cities making particular use of transit for commuting or leisure travel.

Ten port authorities operate within the corridor, with a combined total of annual freight handled in excess of 290 million tons.21 The need for overland movement of incoming and outgoing freight from these facilities puts demands on the rail and roadway networks in addition to freight flows to and from the rest of the country.

Commuter mode choice: Percentages vary throughout the Northeasts cities, but public transportation shares are all above the national average.22


0 - 25%26 - 50%51 - 75%76 - 100%101%+

Level of Severe Congestion

0 1005025MilesMAJOR ROADWAY CONGESTION

HIGHWAYS

The Northeast Megaregion is well-connected through a series of interstate highways, limited-access expressways, turnpikes, major arterial roads and local roads. The backbone of the automobile transportation system is the regions highway network. Arguably the most important thoroughfare in the United States, I-95, runs the length of the corridor, connecting from Miami along the East Coast all the way north to Maine, linking all the major cities in the Northeast. It is supplemented by a series of beltways around major cities and other interstate links that connect the coast with the hinterlands: I-87 in New York, I-84 in Connecticut to I-90 in Massachusetts, I-78 and 80 in New Jersey, I-76 in Pennsylvania, and on the southern end, I-64 near Richmond, Va., and Washington, D.C.

Much of this highway system suffers from severe congestion. The Texas Transportation Institute reports that the metropolitan areas in the Northeast are among the most congested in the country, with Washington, D.C., topping the list. In Baltimore, Boston and New York, each commuter loses more than 40 hours of every year stuck in traffica full work week (or vacation week) of time in addition to the actual time it takes to drive to work. In Washington, D.C., this number is almost 50 percent higher.23 And, barring a significant change in travel behavior across the country, things will get even worse. Some estimates suggest that congestion could rise as much as 85 percent by 2025that


825,000Wasted Hours(20,625 weeks of vacation time)

$17.6 billionTotal Costs of Congestion

540,000Wasted Gallonsof Gasoline

The Costs of Congestion

Washington DC-VA-MD 62 42 133,862 90,801 2,762New York-Newark NY-NJ-CT 44 28 379,328 238,934 8,180Baltimore MD 44 32 56,964 41,777 1,276Boston MA-NH-RI 43 29 91,052 60,985 1,996Philadelphia PA-NJ-DE-MD 38 24 112,074 71,262 2,316Bridgeport-Stamford CT-NY 33 27 16,077 12,759 350Providence RI-MA 29 18 19,937 12,114 386Hartford CT 21 15 10,147 7,201 203New Haven CT 19 14 5,728 4,225 117National Average 41 28 3,592,338 2,473,532 75,761Northeast Totals 825,169 540,058 17,586

Annual Delay per Traveler (hrs)

Wasted Fuel per Traveler (gals)

Annual Delay Total (hrs)

Wasted Fuel Total (gals)

Congestion Cost ($ million)Urban Area

The costs of congestion: Delays and their effects by metropolitan area.26

5,240 tonsCO2 Emissions27

is, driving in the nations capital may soon cost drivers 115 hours every year, or nearly three full work weeks!24

As in the United States as a whole, this state of affairs is the result of the megaregions postwar development in low-density, automobile-based suburbs organized around the interstate highways. Consequently, the highways have become the primary means of access to employment, goods and services for an increasingly dispersed population. This pattern of dispersioncoupled with jurisdictional fragmentation, which produces competition to maximize tax bases while minimizing demand for servicesled to a vicious cycle of urban decline and increasing demand for further development at the periphery. This has required ever-increasing amounts of roadway capacity.

The Northeast also suffers from a unique roadway problem associated with the overlapping of metropolitan regions. Interstate highways, originally built to foster long-distance trips between states, are now used primarily for metropolitan commuting. Movement between cities at most points during the day is, therefore, severely constrained by growing congestion.25

While these dynamics have been recognized and some efforts made to alleviate them, large portions of the roadway network in the Northeast continue to operate at or above capacity for substantial periods of the day, especially within and around major urban centers. But additional highway capacity will not solve the problem of congestion, as congestion itself represents the equilibrium point of what commuters are willing to pay in time costs. The duration of their daily commutes and additional capacity will be consumed by additional demand as the cost of travel falls. Put simply, a city or region cannot build itself out of congestion, but it can plan for increased demand for roadway capacity by focusing efforts on other modes and attempting to shift that demand to them. In the Northeast, investments in rail infrastructure instead of highways may prove much more elastic, with marginally increased speeds and cost differentials drawing considerably higher ridership.


9:00 am8:00 am7:00 am6:00 am5:00 am4:00 am3:00 am2:00 am 11:00 pm10:00 pm9:00 pm8:00 pm7:00 pm6:00 pm5:00 pm10:00 am12:00MIDNIGHT

Inte

rnat

iona

l Dat

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ne

1:00 am 3:00 pm2:00 pm1:00 pm12:00 pm11:00 am 4:00 pm

INTERNATIONAL CONNECTIONS TO THE NORTHEAST

Rank Airport (Code) On-Time1 Salt Lake City, UT (SLC) 85.10%

2 Phoenix, AZ (PHX) 83.93%

3 Chicago, IL (MDW) 83.54%

4 Portland, OR (PDX) 82.97%

5 Las Vegas, NV (LAS) 82.92%

6 Houston, TX (IAH) 82.75%

7 Los Angeles, CA (LAX) 82.68%

8 Baltimore, MD (BWI) 82.46%

9 Seattle, WA (SEA) 82.22%

10 Cincinnati, OH (CVG) 82.18%

11 St. Louis, MO (STL) 81.87%

12 Detroit, MI (DTW) 81.86%

13 San Diego, CA (SAN) 81.69%

14 Tampa, FL (TPA) 81.30%

15 Orlando, FL (MCO) 80.89%

16 Washington, DC (IAD) 80.80%

17 Denver, CO (DEN) 80.77%

18 Washington, DC (DCA) 80.34%

19 Charlotte, NC (CLT) 80.05%

20 Chicago, IL (ORD) 79.42%

21 Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX (DFW) 79.00%

22 Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN (MSP) 78.94%

23 Ft. Lauderdale, FL (FLL) 78.01%

24 Boston, MA (BOS) 76.45%

25 Miami, FL (MIA) 75.76%

26 Philadelphia, PA (PHL) 74.62%

27 San Francisco, CA (SFO) 73.53%

28 New York, NY (JFK) 73.51%

29 Atlanta, GA (ATL) 72.60%

30 New York, NY (LGA) 68.70%

31 Newark, NJ (EWR) 65.76%

AIRPORTS

The Northeast Corridor is served by a number of major airports, including Boston-Logan, New York-La Guardia, New York-Kennedy, Newark-Liberty, Philadelphia, Baltimore-Washington International, Washington-Reagan National and Washington-Dulles. These airports serve as the regions primary gateways to both domestic and international destinations.

Notwithstanding its extensive air connections, the Northeast Megaregion suffers from seriously congested airports. Generally this is both a supply- and demand-side problem: while demand for air travel in the region has progressively increased over the years, airports built in developed areas have no room to expand or add runway capacity. In terms of on-time arrivals, the airports in the Northeast are among the poorest-performing in the country, with only 66 percent of flights arriving on time at Newark, 69 percent at La Guardia, 73 percent at JFK, 75 percent at Philadelphia and 76 percent at Boston-Logan.28

But why, specifically, are these flights delayed? Flight delays generally fall into one of four categories: extreme weather, carrier delays, late aircraft and delays caused by the national aviation system. Carrier delays are situations under the airlines control, such as crew problems or scheduling mishaps. The national aviation system category, on the other hand, includes non-extreme weather and high-traffic volume delays, both of which are directly attributable to airports running a tight schedule.29

National aviation system (NAS) delays worsen at increasingly large airports. In the five largest metro areas, two of which (Philadelphia and New York) are in the Northeast Corridor, 48 percent of delays are caused by the NAS. In fact, New York leads the pack in NAS delays: In

On-time arrivals by airport: 2009.


Boston

New York

Washington DC

Providence

Philadelphia

0 1005025MilesINTRA-CORRIDOR AIR TRAVEL

Daily Flight

Airport

2009, for example, nearly 65 percent of its delays were due to the NAS.30

Additionally, over the past few decades, these airports have seen steadily rising numbers of short-haul flights, which bring passengers back and forth between airports within about 500 miles of each other. Most airlines operate on a hub-and-spoke model, in which smaller planes shuttle passengers from their origin (the spokes) into major airports (the hubs), where they can transfer to another aircraft for longer-haul flights. This allows them to focus operations on filling the biggerand more profitableflights, while still providing access to passengers in less-populous areas. Unfortunately, this comes with a price: Airports with limited capacity are constrained by the constant movement of flights in and out and, as a result, frequency and reliability of long-haul flights drops. This problem is particularly acute in the Northeast, with the New York airports (LGA, JFK and EWR) experiencing some of the heaviest congestion.31

What, is the solution? Some people suggest building more runways, but this is nearly impossible in an area as dense as the Northeast, where most airports are landlocked and surrounded by residential communities that are strongly opposed to new runways. Instead, the solution may be found in the effective integration of air travel and a complementary mode like high-speed rail. Together, they can produce synergies that neither could realize alone. This prospect is explored in greater detail later in this report.

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%National 5 Largest

Metros

Extreme WeatherCarrierLate AircraftNational Aviation System

Causes of Flight Delays


Boston

Trenton

New York

Baltimore

New Haven

Washington DC

Wilmington

Providence

Philadelphia

0 1005025MilesREGIONAL RAIL TRANSPORTATION

Northeast Corridor

Amtrak Rail

Class 1 Freight Rail

RAIL

One of the greatest assets in the Northeast Megaregion is the extensive existing rail network. The Northeast Corridor is the busiest passenger rail line in the country, and it hosts several branches that reach north, west and south. The network reaches destinations such as Montreal, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Charlotte and New Orleans. The actual spine of the line runs from Washington to Boston on 457 miles of track and hosts 1,800 trains each weekday.32

The tracks are used by Amtraks passenger rail, commuter rail and freight trains. Passenger rail includes Amtraks higher-speed Acela Express service and conventional-speed Northeast Regional trains. Commuter rail agencies utilize the corridor in every state and around each major city. Freight operates on the line through trackage rights. Major operators include Norfolk Southern Railway and CSx Transportation.33 With these different types of trains sharing the same track, the infrastructure is often overwhelmed and overcrowded.

No other megaregion is so adequately equipped with supporting transit infrastructure. Commuter rail systems cover more than 3,000 miles of track and serve millions of riders each day. These robust transit systems are a major asset that bring people to jobs and other destinations across the region.


METROPOLITAN AREA RAIL SYSTEMS

WASHINGTON, D.C., AND BALTIMORE: This metropolitan region is served by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) and the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA). WMATA operates commuter rail subway service in Washington, Maryland and Virginia. The MTA administers MARC, a commuter train connecting Baltimore and Washington, and subway and light rail services in Baltimore. Combined, the Washington-Baltimore system transports nearly one million riders per day on 338 miles of track. Amtrak trains serve Washingtons Union Station and Baltimores Penn Station.34

PHILADELPHIA: Philadelphia and surrounding counties are served by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authoritys (SEPTA) bus, subway and elevated rail, commuter rail, light rail and trolleybus. SEPTA has 280 active stations, 2,295 revenue vehicles and 196 routes. More than 450 miles of track serve 500,000 daily riders. SEPTAs stations are also served by NJ Transit. SEPTAs R7 Trenton service connects with NJ Transit, and Philadelphias 30th Street Station is served by NJ Transits Atlantic City Line. Amtrak stops at Philadelphias historic 30th Street Station.35

NEW YORK: With more than eight million daily riders and more than 2,000 miles of track, New York boasts one of the most well-known transit systems in the world. Several different transit operators carry passengers in and around New York, including the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA), which operates 385 bus and 23 subway lines; PATH, the Port Authority Trans-Hudson, which links several cities in New Jersey to New York; Long Island Rail Road (LIRR), a commuter service that connects through the length of Long Island; and Metro-North Commuter Railroad, which is the second busiest commuter railroad in the United States. Metro-North runs from New York City to New York and Connecticut suburbs.36

BOSTON: The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) operates bus, subway, commuter rail and ferry systems in the Greater Boston region. The MBTA has 432 miles of track and carries nearly one million riders daily. There system boasts 123 commuter rail stations, almost 100 light rail stops and 50 subway stations. Amtrak trains terminate at either South Station (most trains) or North Station, which serves the Downeaster route to Portland, Maine.37

Washington, D.C., and Baltimore

Philadelphia

Boston

New York

Metropolitan area rail systems: Backbone of the regional transit system.


THE NORTHEAST CORRIDOR

The Northeast Corridor (NEC) is the backbone of the megaregions rail transportation network. It is the actual infrastructure that runs 457 miles from Washington, D.C., to Boston, with significant feeder lines to Richmond, Va., Harrisburg, Pa., Albany, N.Y., and Springfield, Mass. The fully electrified route supports more than 2,600 total daily passenger trains as well as freight services.38 By far Americas busiest rail corridor, it sees more than 250 million passengers as well as several thousand freight trains travel along its tracks annually.39

Amtrak operates a number of services along the Northeast Corridor, including the Acela Express and Northeast Regional that serve the corridor directly, and Amtraks long-distance services, many of which originate or terminate in the corridor and service points outside of the Northeast.

The NEC is the busiest intercity passenger rail line (in terms of ridership and frequency of service) in the United States with approximately 13 million passengers in 2008. The southern end of the line (from D.C. to New York) is two- to four-times busier than the northern half (New York to Boston). Half of Amtraks 10 busiest stations are in the Northeast.40

The Acela Expressthe companys signature express train serviceattains speeds of up to 150 mph (but averages speeds of 70 mph) and carries three million passengers annually. It stops in 15 cities with an average distance of 43 miles between stations.41

The Northeast Regional operates at speeds up to 125 mph and makes more frequent stops (25 stops; average of 23 miles between stations). This is Amtraks busiest route, with 6.9 million passengers per year.42 Together, the Acela Express and the Northeast Regional generate more than half of Amtraks total revenue. Feeder route and long-distance trains also operate over some portion of the NEC, including the Keystone, Crescent, Pennsylvanian, Adirondack, Carolinian and Ethan Allen Express.

Acela Express currently offers 300 seats per train, or about 15,000 seats per day. Other systems around the world offer at least double the capacity of Acela, including systems that serve city pairs that are less populous than the Northeast Corridor cities.43


4 hr 36 min 1 hr 43 min 2 hr 14 minNortheast Regional

4 hr 00 min 1 hr 31 min 2 hr 04 minAcela Express

3 hr 42 min 1 hr 39 min 2 hr 26 minAuto

2 hr 42 min 2 hr 43 min 2 hr 20 minAir

2 hr 56 minBOS

City Hall to City Hall, Travel Time by Mode

BOS NYC PHL WAS

* indicates not yet built

High Speed Rail Scenario* 3 hr 0 min 40 min 1 hr 0 min

3 hr 26 min 1 hr 11 min 1 hr 37 minAmtrak Master Plan 2030*

TRAVEL TIMES

Currently, passengers on the Northeast Regional can get from Washington to New York in three and a half hours and from New York to Boston in four hours. On the Acela Express, it takes two hours and 45 minutes to travel from Washington to New York, and three and a half hours from New York to Boston.44

Compared to high-speed rail systems worldwide, Acela Express has a fairly competitive top speed of 150 mph between New York and Boston. Unfortunately, average speeds across the whole systema more important barometer of travel timehover at around 75 mph.45 This puts the Northeasts highest-speed rail service near the bottom of comparable international services. At the other end of the spectrum, both the AVE system in Spain and the Shinkansen system in Japan average speeds nearly twice that fast.46

The line diagram below indicates travel times leaving Philadelphias City Hall to other city halls in the region. Todays Acela Express service has travel times comparable to driving to get to other city halls in the region. The Amtrak Master Plan 2030 only slightly reduces travel times. High-speed rail on dedicated tracks allows trains to move at much faster speeds and significantly reduces travel times. The time from point A to point B is a primary consideration for people when choosing which mode to take for their trip.

City hall to city hall:Travel times by mode.


THE NORTHEAST CORRIDOR: MAJOR CHALLENGES

The Northeast Corridor is currently experiencing myriad problems, from a complex ownership and operations structure to a looming backlog of deferred maintenance. Understanding each of these problems will be instrumental in designing a feasible plan for high-speed rail service and increased connectivity along the corridor.

OWNERSHIP

Ownership and operation of this transportation resource is fragmented. Amtrak, the intercity operator, owns 363 miles of the main line plus the Springfield and Harrisburg branch lines and a portion of the branch line to Albany. Other portions of the main line are owned by the Connecticut Department of Transportation (46 miles), Metro-North Railroad (10 miles) and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (38 miles). CSx Transportation owns the other major branch lines, including the bulk of the Albany line and the entire line from Washington, D.C., to Richmond.47

COMPLEXITY OF OPERATION

In total, 9 different passenger train operators are active on the NEC main line. Eight are commuter railroad operations, each with its own set of structures, protocols and demands. They are as follows:

Amtrak

Massachusets Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA)

ConnDOT/Shore Line East (SLE)

Metro-North Commuter Railroad (MNR)

Long Island Rail Road (LIRR)

New Jersey Transit (NJT)

Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA)

Maryland Area Rail Commuter (MARC)

Virginia Railway Express (VRE)

These commuter services carry the majority of passenger traffic on the NEC. According to Amtrak, the state-sponsored commuter railroads account for 245 million of the 258 million annual trips taken on the corridor.48 However, since commuters travel much shorter distances per


trip than the average Amtrak passenger, Amtrak carries more than 45 percent of the corridors total annual passenger miles.49

Additionally, seven different freight railroads currently operate on portions of the NEC, resulting in more than 50 freight trains per day on the Amtrak-owned parts of the corridor.50 In fact, only two portions of the entire Amtrak-owned network see no daily freight service: between Sunnyside Yard in New York and Harrison, N.J., and between Landover, Md., and Washington, D.C. In total, however, these two areas account for only 20 miles of Amtraks 363-mile network.51

RELIABILITY

Of all operators on the NEC, Amtrak has the poorest on-time performance. In recent years, 85 to 90 percent of Acela trains have reached their destinations on time. Amtraks Northeast Regional service accomplishes this only 75 to 80 percent of the time. Per 150 miles of journey, Amtrak trains experience an average of seven minutes of train delay (above and beyond a built-in pad of 10 to 20 minutes of recovery time). Delay minutes increased 13 percent in 2008 aloneand the situatio

high speed rail studio final report

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