U.S. Mayors: High-Speed Rail Would Bring Billions of Dollars to Cities

4 by Zachary Shahan on July 22, 2010

Want to create billions of dollars in new business and thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, of new jobs? Build high-speed rail in your region.

Since President Obama announced earlier this year that the federal government was investing $8 billion in high-speed rail projects across the country, I have seen people asking repeatedly, "Is this really a good investment?" Or just claiming outright that it is not. If implemented badly, or only in disconnected pieces, high-speed rail could flop. But, if implemented as proposed, high-speed rail is a great investment, which is why so many people (especially experts in this field) are so enthusiastic about it. A recent report out by the U.S. Conference of Mayors confirms this claim and gives right to that enthusiasm.

The report, The Economic Impacts of High-Speed Rail on Cities and their Metropolitan Regions, which examined four hub cities -- Los Angeles, Chicago, Orlando and Albany, N.Y. -- found that $19 billion in new business and 150,000 jobs would be created from high-speed rail projects in those regions.

Increasing tourism, giving businesses a wider pool of workers to choose from, and helping with the growth and development of technology clusters, these high-speed rail networks would create more benefits than costs.

"It is a game changer with how people envision the city; people see the city in new ways," Steve Fitzroy, director of operations for the Economic Development Research Group, the organization which conducted the study, told the New York Times.

Albany, for example, which is not that well-connected to New York City currently, would be "pulled into New York City's economic core." Albany would gain $2.5 billion in new business and 21,000 jobs if a proposed high-speed rail network connecting it with NYC, Syracuse, and Montreal gets implemented, according to the report.

In Florida, a high-speed rail network connecting Orlando, Tampa, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach and other areas in that region, would generate $2.9 billion per year in new business, $1.7 billion more per year in gross regional product, and an additional 27,500 jobs, the report found.

The results are similar in California, the Midwest, and other regions looking at high-speed rail. And they are comparable to results already seen in Europe and Asia after such networks were put into place there.

If high-speed rail keeps chugging along in the U.S., it looks like it will help our economy recover and grow considerably.

Photo Credit: caribb via flickr/CC license

Joseph Bloe

Unfortunately your article misses the most important point. The “high speed rail” being planned would not be considered “high speed” in any other country in the world. And given that the distances between major cities is so much greater in the US, investment in 85 mph trains is laughable. Why do we think massive investments in technology almost 200 years old is worthwhile? If we are planning a massive works project, better to invest in true high speed rail, which could use the same right-of-ways as the existing trains, but do so more quietly, more safely, with less pollution and less risk to wildlife. I am of course speaking of magnetic levitation trains, which have already been built and are in service in China. Maglev trains currently travel at nearly 300 mph, which would mean that people would actually be willing to ride them over the long distances present here in the US, unlike the obsolescent slow coaches that you are advocating.
http://joolsstone.wordpress.com jools stone

Hi there

This sounds like a great initiative to me. The train in the pic looks v futuristic, which route is that on then?

You might like my rail travel blog by the way.

Glad I found yours, will RT this.

Thanks
Jools
Up To Here

Wait a minute. Doesn’t anybody check their math anymore?

“…$2.5 billion in new business and 21,000 jobs…” in Albany!? Really? 21,000 jobs? Wow, this passenger train business is a jobs machine. We need to build rail to and from every burg and wide spot in America!

Seriously, how many train passengers does it take to support 21,000 new jobs?

Here in NH, there is a group of train buffs who want to spend $300 million plus another $4 million per year on passenger rail to carry an average of 603 round trip passengers per day. This isn’t their money they’re playing with. It’s public money. Tax money. Borrowed by them and paid back by our children and grandchildren.

The “rail consultants” are telling us these 600 people will generate 1,102 jobs with wages totaling $55.6 million per year.

Call me a skeptic but somebody will have to prove to me that 600 train riders will create 1100 jobs. Will each passenger have two valets, each earning $50,454 per year?

And $55.6 million is $152,329 per day. Think about this. It’s $254 per passenger per day. Where will that money come from? Ticket sales?

Get real, people. These numbers are cooked. There is no such thing as economic benefits from rail. Rail is a sink hole for money. It’s welfare for the wealthy.

Zach needs a $3 pocket calculator to go with his “in-depth experience in a range of fields connected with the environment and society”.
Pingback: High-Speed Rail Brings Billions of Dollars to US Cities, Mayors Report Finds - CleanTechnica