TY - JOUR
T1 - The full cost of high-speed rail
T2 - An engineering approach
AU - Levinson, David
AU - Mathieu, Jean Michel
AU - Gillen, David
AU - Kanafani, Adib
PY - 1997/6
Y1 - 1997/6
N2 - This paper examines the full costs, defined as the sum of private and social costs, of a high-speed rail system proposed for a corridor connecting Los Angeles and San Francisco in California. The full costs include infrastructure, fleet capital and operating expenses, the time users spend on the system, and the social costs of externalities, such as noise, pollution, and accidents. Comparing these full costs to those of other competing modes contributes to the evaluation of the feasibility of high-speed rail in the corridor. The paper concludes that high-speed rail is significantly more costly than expanding existing air service, and marginally more expensive than auto travel. This suggests that high-speed rail is better positioned to serve shorter distance markets where it competes with auto travel than longer distance markets where it substitutes for air.
AB - This paper examines the full costs, defined as the sum of private and social costs, of a high-speed rail system proposed for a corridor connecting Los Angeles and San Francisco in California. The full costs include infrastructure, fleet capital and operating expenses, the time users spend on the system, and the social costs of externalities, such as noise, pollution, and accidents. Comparing these full costs to those of other competing modes contributes to the evaluation of the feasibility of high-speed rail in the corridor. The paper concludes that high-speed rail is significantly more costly than expanding existing air service, and marginally more expensive than auto travel. This suggests that high-speed rail is better positioned to serve shorter distance markets where it competes with auto travel than longer distance markets where it substitutes for air.
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U2 - 10.1007/s001680050045
DO - 10.1007/s001680050045
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0030692110
SN - 0570-1864
VL - 31
SP - 189
EP - 215
JO - Annals of Regional Science
JF - Annals of Regional Science
IS - 2
ER -