High Speed Rail USA

Proposal for a United States HSR Inter-departmental Agency

2010-07-01T15:29:29Z

According to GAO March 2009 Report (GAO-09-317), on p.60, DOT is asked to lead the vision for high speed rail. However, there should be interagency coordination primarily between HUD, DOE, and DOT. The reason is this. Those are all bricks and mortar agencies that require design coordination. HUD is primarily run by architects and planners, DOE is run by scientists and DOT is run by engineers. It is not enough for the vision of high speed rail to be guided by DOT and engineers. There should be a high speed rail inter-departmental agency that reports to HUD, DOE, and DOT.

The reason why HUD should be involved is that in other countries, per. Page 20, where there is good transit, rail travelers generally [will] not require an automobile at the end of the rail line to get to their final destination in metropolitan areas. Therefore, transit oriented development, (development around train stations) is very important, so people are able to walk around after they get off the train station. Therefore, urban development is very important because it focuses design around density, which train stations automatically promote. In addition, having a variety of housing options are important around many train stations and TODs the very issue that HUD is working on.

The reason why DOE needs to be involved is that bullet trains need electricity to run and bullet trains need to be connected to an electrical grid. Thus the coordination of all these three agencies is vital. Afterall, the design of high speed rail and its interrelated components cannot be limited only to engineers.

Highlights of the GAO HSR 2009 Report

2010-06-30T15:45:00Z

Summary review of the March 2009 GAO report on High Speed Rail.

This highlights some important points in the report entitled "High Speed Passenger Rail: Future Development Will Depend on Addressing Financial and Other Challenges and Establishing a Clear Federal Role." U.S. Government Accountability Office. GAO-09-317. March 2009.http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d09317.pdf. Important points in this GAO Report are the following: speed of high speed rail trains, the intermodal aspect of traveling, the federal role in setting a national vision and the coordination of agencies.

Note also the funding mechanisms of high speed rail in other countries as mentioned on the very first page (the page after the title sheet and before page i), federal funding [from other countries] for high speed rail has been derived from general revenues, not from trust funds or other dedicated funding sources. Also noteworthy is Appendix V which has a description of High speed rail systems in France, Japan, and Spain.

For sure, those countries business models/organizational structure for High Speed Rail must be studied intensively as they offer the blue print for what high speed rail would look like in the United States. If you want to get involved in working on or advocating for high speed rail in the United States, please study GAO-09-317. If you have questions about the information in the document, feel free to email emylouie@hotmail.com.

It's Electric!

2010-06-25T15:13:50Z

This short film makes a case to bypass 125mph diesel high speed trains and choose 220mph electric high speed trains.

RT @Wired Superfast Bullet Trains Are Finally Coming to the U.S.

2010-01-26T16:22:23Z

illustration: Paul Rogers

In this month's issue of Wired Magazine, there are exciting illustrations of HSR technology and predictions on five key corridors.

http://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/01/ff_fasttrack/all/1

SoCal-to-Vegas rail route wins federal designation

2009-07-04T03:09:37Z

US Department of Transportation expands the designated HSR corridors outlined in the vision for high speed rail to include the Las Vegas to Los Angeles, the Associated Press reports. There are several proposals for running along the congested I-15 corridor, and this designation allows them to be eligible for ARRA Stimulus funds in September.

Read the Article

JR Tokai chief urges U.S. to introduce Japan's N700 bullet rail system

2009-07-01T02:55:29Z

While we advocate for creating American manufacturing and construction jobs as long as they meet quality and performance standards, it is exciting to see such interest from the Japanese bullet train system. Certainly their are opportunities for collaboration with other hsr system designers and manufacturers around the world. Japan today.