Measuring the Benefits of Intercity Passenger Rail: A Study

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Oklahoma (47 percent). Researchers estimate that passengers who reported that they would forgo their trip in the absence of the Heartland Flyer spent an average of $162.75 on lodging, meals, shopping, and entertainment during their trips, or about $14 more than passengers who would make their trip using alternative travel modes. POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS The findings of this study can be used in a variety of potential applications for all levels of passenger rail planning, including statewide rail planning, corridor-specific studies, and station-area planning. For the southwestern United States, the findings are particularly useful for rail planning activities, as they represent a comprehensive examination of the only intercity passenger rail route currently in operation in the region. For the formation of state transportation policy, these findings can be used to demonstrate the transportation system impacts of intercity passenger rail in short- to medium-distance intercity corridors to policymakers, agency executives, and other stakeholders with a contribution to the development of state transportation policy. The findings of this study can also be used to educate the public on the impacts of passenger rail in local areas. The economic impacts findings, for example, could support rail planners’ efforts to obtain local stakeholder buy-in for passenger rail service improvements or expansion. Findings can also be utilized in the writing of grant applications related to specific provisions of PRIIA or future intercity passenger rail funding programs. Applications for infrastructure project funds, for example, can be supported with the findings of this study that demonstrate the congestion reduction benefits related to intercity passenger rail. The extent to which a project can contribute to reducing congestion on the highway or air network was specifically listed as a criterion for evaluating projects for funding under these provisions. Also, the development of state rail plans as described by PRIIA can benefit from these findings. Considerations for project inclusion in state rail plans also include criteria related to congestion reduction and economic development. Measures of both criteria were identified in this study. In addition to statewide passenger rail planning applications, rail planners can also use the findings of this study to guide the development of planning studies and other activities related to proposed passenger rail service in short- to medium-distance intercity corridors where no service currently exists. Specifically, the mobility and economic benefits associated with the xxiv
Heartland Flyer identified in this study can be used as a starting point to identify the benefits that could be accrued from the development of passenger rail service in other intercity corridors. One strategy used by planners when considering new intercity passenger rail service is to identify an existing passenger rail corridor with characteristics that are similar to the proposed corridor and use information from these “peer” corridors to support their planning activities. New passenger rail routes, particularly those in the southwestern United States, may share many similar characteristics to the Heartland Flyer. As new passenger rail corridors in the southwest region of the United States are proposed, rail planners can use the findings of this study to develop sketch-level estimates of the impacts of the proposed service. Benefits of enhancing or expanding existing service, including the Heartland Flyer route, can also be identified through the findings of this study. Another potential application of this study related to future intercity passenger rail planning is the lessons learned from the survey design, data collection procedures, and quality control methodology developed for and used in this study. The analysis of the content of the survey instruments used in past on-board surveys of intercity rail passengers in this study can provide valuable insight on the design of future studies of this type. Lessons learned during the data collection procedure (particularly the benefits of the support and involvement of the onboard staff) will be useful in the design and execution of future on-board surveys of intercity passenger rail passengers. Proposed development of high-speed passenger rail in the United States will likely result in the need to deploy studies similar to the one described in this report to measure progress toward major policy initiatives and ensure that funding is being distributed accordingly. While the characteristics of passengers using future high-speed rail routes are likely to differ from the characteristics of the Heartland Flyer passengers in this study, the methodology utilized in this study can be transferred into a high-speed rail on-board survey application with few, if any, modifications. REFERENCES 1. National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission. Transportation for Tomorrow: Report of the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission, Volume I: Recommendations, December 2007. 2. Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008. Public Law No. 110-432 (Division B-Amtrak), 122 STAT. 4907, October 2008. xxv
Page 1: 1. Report No. SWUTC/10/169116-1 2.
Page 5: ABSTRACT In recent years, the polic
Page 8 and 9: LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 3-1: He
Page 11 and 12: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY INTRODUCTION In i
Page 13 and 14: ail service along intercity corrido
Page 15 and 16: planning faces a variety of challen
Page 17 and 18: of travel (in the absence of rail s
Page 19 and 20: participate in the study. Throughou
Page 21 and 22: such as medical appointments or fun
Page 23: Heartland Flyer annually. Induced t
Page 27: DISCLAIMER The contents of this rep
Page 31 and 32: CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION In its Dece
Page 33 and 34: to Fort Worth intercity corridor wa
Page 35: • An overview of intercity passen
Page 38 and 39: passenger deficit for the year 1969
Page 40 and 41: In April 2009, the Federal Railroad
Page 42 and 43: conditions across the United States
Page 44 and 45: Table 2-2: State-Supported Routes i
Page 46 and 47: Oklahoma and Texas support service
Page 48 and 49: conducted by the Southeastern Wisco
Page 50 and 51: Discussion of State-Supported Rail
Page 52 and 53: • The 1993 Illinois Passenger Rai
Page 54 and 55: INTERCITY PASSENGER RAIL PLANNING T
Page 56 and 57: Data Needs for Intercity Passenger
Page 58 and 59: supported routes. The following par
Page 60 and 61: • Third, the total non-business r
Page 62 and 63: demand model varies, Horowitz and F
Page 64 and 65: Survey Design Literature Deploying
Page 66 and 67: Table 2-4: Elements Included in On-
Page 68 and 69: question. This pattern is consisten
Page 70 and 71: a particular corridor. For example,
Page 73 and 74: CHAPTER 3: DESCRIPTION OF HEARTLAND
Page 75 and 76:
• After passing through Davis, th
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minutes early. A later section of t
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corridor. Table 3-1 shows a snapsho
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enefits resulting from the route’
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state of Oklahoma (71). This action
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served by the route are Pauls Valle
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Figure 3-4: Typical P42DC Locomotiv
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during non-peak times when the usua
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effect during this research study w
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HEARTLAND FLYER SERVICE DATA The fo
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Examining the 10-year monthly avera
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surprisingly, is Oklahoma City-Fort
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Figure 3-9: Heartland Flyer On-Time
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CHAPTER 4: DATA COLLECTION The main
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amenities that could increase rail
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pool be increased to 3,000. The IRB
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Summary of Data Collection Tables 4
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Ineligible Passengers Several group
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QUALITY CONTROL After completing th
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For the access mode to station ques
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One question on the survey asked th
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trip). However, researchers determi
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eporting how far passengers were fr
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CHAPTER 5: DATA ANALYSIS This chapt
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survey item by the total number of
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Comparing the total column in Table
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Tables 5-5 and 5-6 display another
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Heartland Flyer Market Area Researc
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Table 5-9: Passenger Trip Purpose,
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PASSENGER CHARACTERISTICS Passenger
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is entirely possible that a passeng
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In both April and July, the two mos
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Table 5-19: Passenger State of Resi
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Figure 5-2: Residential Zip Codes o
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Gender Table 5-22 reports passenger
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Household Income Table 5-26 reports
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In FFY 2009, the Heartland Flyer ra
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Table 5-28: Passenger Alternatives
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Urban and Rural Mobility Another co
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passenger was approximately $120 in
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if the service did not exist (appro
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This study measured the mobility im
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questions on the passenger’s boar
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made is related to the similarity b
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valuable insight on the design of f
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REFERENCES 1. National Surface Tran
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35. Corey, Canapary & Galanis Resea
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74. Able Consulting. Tier 1 Environ
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Figure A-3: Purcell Amtrak Station
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Figure A-7: Fort Worth Amtrak Stati
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148
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Measuring the Benefits of Intercity Passenger Rail: A Study

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