Data from the Federal Railroad Administration shows that rail is competing well (and mostly winning) against air to claim market share in eight major city-pairs, many outside of the traditionally strong Northeast Corridor.
"Longer-distance intercity rail gets short shrift as a transportation mode in a lot of circles, often treated as more novelty than honest-to-god mobility solution," says Shane Phillips. "Air travel, on the other hand, is generally considered completely legitimate. In reality, even with relatively poor facilities by international standards--and massive federal investments in airport infrastructure--rail is competitive with air travel in much of the United States, and in some cases vastly more popular as this chart [from Amtrak] illustrates."
Phillips goes on to explain why this state of affairs is actually good for both Amtrak and airlines, and helps make the case for investment in High-Speed Rail.
FULL STORY: Even with poor infrastructure, rail exceeds air market share in many domestic corridors
Texas High-Speed Rail Awarded $63.9M Federal Grant
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San Diego to Rescind Multi-Unit ADU Rule
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Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
City of Albany
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research