Cost Benefit Analysis of Washington-Richmond High-Speed Rail

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Cost Benefit Analysis of Washington-Richmond High-Speed Rail Spring 2010 limited to the marginal benefits (and marginal costs) of having the project completed in a shorter period of time and including the cost of expending resources on the project sooner than otherwise planned. In preparing a cost-benefit analysis, all costs and benefits of the project should be evaluated, including benefits and costs that fall outside of the immediate area where the project lies. Assuming a baseline scenario in which the owner of the facility performs no maintenance and ignores traffic problems is not realistic and will lead to the overstatement of project benefits. 28
Cost Benefit Analysis of Washington-Richmond High-Speed Rail Spring 2010 5. Project Costs According to Rohit Aggarwala, a member of the New York State Assembly High-Speed Rail Task Force, historically major investments in surface transportation infrastructure have originated from dedicated state funding mechanisms as key drivers. 22 The federal government has historically taken a “wait-andsee” approach to allow states the freedom to develop their own initiatives. Following this, the federal government usually steps in to help organize the various state initiatives into a national network by standardizing successful processes identified by the initial work conducted by the states. In the current case of HSR development, the federal approach has been augmented by the availability of ARRA funding to allow states with particularly strong rail initiatives a chance to obtain federal support. These projects must meet federal standards, which typically lead to a decrease in the build- time 23 . Currently, there are no dedicated sources of federal funding for HSR. As such, the onus remains on states to fully develop the scopes of their rail investment projects for HSR infrastructure and to establish dedicated sources of funding to ensure their viability. In “The States, New Modes, and Federal Transportation Policy: Lessons from History for High-Speed Rail,” Dr. Aggarwala suggests that in the first decade of the 21 st century we will have entered a period where federal funding has been denied, and states will independently pursue a pattern of development with increasing public support for the successes of these independent projects. Historical development patterns follow the following five steps: 29 • Failed private attempts; • Mollification of failed federal bid for dedicated funding with a single unrepeated investment; • Independent state action; • Imitation by other states; and • Adoption of a dedicated federal funding mechanism and national transportation policy. 24 In the Commonwealth of Virginia two sources of dedicated funding exist, which total $37.5 million annually 25 . The current HSR project designated in the 2009 State Resource Allocation Plan to receive the majority of support from these sources is the D.C. to Richmond Third Track Project. This project entails the construction of approximately 93 miles of track, bridges, stations, signals and curve realignments to 22 Aggarwala Rohit T. , “The States, New Modes, and Federal Transportation Policy: Lessons from History for High- Speed Rail.,” Transportation Quarterly 52, no. 3 (Summer 1998): 54. 23 Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation, “Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transit, Statewide Rail Plan Technical Update,” December 2009, 11-8, http://www.drpt.virginia.gov/studies/files/Chapter%2011%20- %20Projects.pdf. 24 Rohit T. , “The States, New Modes, and Federal Transportation Policy: Lessons from History for High-Speed Rail.,” 54. 25 Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation, “Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transit, Statewide Rail Plan Technical Update,” 8-8.
Page 1 and 2: Spring 2010 Cost-Benefit Analysis o
Page 3 and 4: Cost Benefit Analysis of Washington
Page 27: Cost Benefit Analysis of Washington
Page 79 and 80:
Cost Benefit Analysis of Washington
Page 81 and 82:
Page 83 and 84:
Page 85 and 86:
Page 87 and 88:
Page 89 and 90:
Page 91 and 92:
Page 93 and 94:
Page 95 and 96:
show all

Cost Benefit Analysis of Washington-Richmond High-Speed Rail

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?