Survey: two out of three of Americans likely to use High-Speed Rail in USA

[marmar]

Washington, D.C. — If you build high-speed rail in America, they will come. According to a 2015 survey released by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), if high-speed rail were available today, two-thirds (63 percent) of Americans are likely to use high-speed trains and this jumps to nearly seventy (67) percent when respondents were informed of the costs and time saving benefits of high-speed rail service.

“People want high-speed rail in America and we are seeing support among various ages and in different regions of the country regardless of political party,” said APTA President and CEO Michael Melaniphy. “In addition, the millennial generation and younger adults will lead the way with their preferences to have a multi-modal transportation system that supports their lifestyle. It is critical that we include implementation of high-speed rail as we look to plan for the nation’s future transportation needs.”

In the survey “High-Speed Rail in America 2015”, conducted by TechnoMetrica for APTA, the likelihood of respondents using high-speed rail for their work and leisure travel increases as they were informed that it will be less expensive than flying and that it will take less time than driving to their destination. When told of these cost and time saving benefits, Millennials and young people (18-44) strong likelihood of use at 71 percent jumps to 76 percent. Those respondents who identify as Republican represent the largest growth of intended use, their likelihood of using high-speed rail increases from 58 to 65 percent, followed by Independents, 61 to 67 percent, and Democrats’ already strong likelihood of use goes from 73 to 75 percent when informed of the savings of time and costs.

“A high-speed rail network will have a tremendous benefit to our entire transportation system,” said Melaniphy. “It will enable America’s air, rail, bus, ferry and highway systems to each function effectively and efficiently as we face a dramatic population growth that adds more travelers than our current capacity can accommodate.”

The survey also revealed that Americans overwhelmingly support efforts to streamline government regulations that will promote real-estate development near high-speed rail. This development could include amenities such as popular retail shops, walkable neighborhoods, and unique dining experiences. Overall, nearly three quarters of respondents (71 percent) support reducing regulations so that amenities can be built near high-speed rail stations. ..................(more)

http://allaboardohio.org/2015/10/05/survey-2-of-3-of-americans-likely-to-use-high-speed-rail-in-usa%E2%80%8B/

[CrispyQ]

1. There was a time when the roads weren't so crowded & were maintained.

People weren't inclined to take public transportation if they had a car as an option. Now, roads are a mess & during rush hour some highways are like a parking lot. Why not use that time to sleep, read, surf the Internet, talk to your companion, instead of dealing with the headache of driving? Plus owning a car is expensive.

I didn't know about the regulations limiting what can be near high speed rail. Interesting.

[happyslug]

2. Adam Smith was the first economist that said no passenger service has ever paid for itself...

That was in the 1700s, and since that time period his observation had been seen to be true. For example trains NEVER paid for themselves via passenger service, they lived and died on freight service, passenger service was required by the States to get the right to condemn land to build a railway, thus trains offered passenger service but it was always a side line, and once the upper classes shifted to cars and planes, such required service went down hill rapidly and abandoned by the railroads.

Streetcars boomed starting in the 1890s but they were mostly built to get people to move to the streetcar suburbs most were built to transport people to and from, but once the lots were sold, the streetcar had a hard time to pay for itself even without the lost of passenger service to the Automobiles starting in the 1920s. When it come to replace the tracks, most cities opt for buses due to NOT having to pay the cost of new tracks, even through new tracks and new streetcars could transport more people cheaper over the life time of the tracks and streetcars then could the buses that replaced them (The buses had lower up front costs but lasted only 1/2 the life time of a streetcars, thus over their life times streetcars were cheaper, but buses were cheaper up front). Please note neither streetcars or buses could pay for themselves for they had no freight service to subsidize them. One Streetcar service that survived the 1950s did so by getting out of the passenger service and conveting to a coal hauling railroad that survived till the 1980s as a diesel operated railroad.

Plane service was subsidized by the Post Office till the 1960s, with the Military building most of the "Airports" used nationally, for the jet fighters could use the same runways as passenger planes. Those airports NOT tied in with an Air Base tended to be built by the local government using tax money not money from the Airlines (New York City's airports tend to fall into this category).

just a comment that Hugh Speed Rail, will be like Sailing Ships in the 1700s, Steam Ships and railroads in the 1800s, Streetcars , buses and even automobiles in the 1900s, they will NEVER pay for themselves and some sort of subsidy will have to be set up or they will just fail.

As to passenger cars, 40% of the cost of highways are paid by real estate and other taxes NOT gasoline taxes (and most of the Gasoline taxes are spent to maintain highways for 80,000 pound trucks, NOT 3000 pounds automobiles).

I bring this up for the survey says people will take high speed rail, and most people will do so if it is free. On the other hand when the issue of price is brought up, the number of people who will opt for trains drops as the price of tickets increase.