Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Transit GDOT wins $4 million high-speed rail grant to study Atlanta-Charlotte route
Posted by Thomas Wheatley @thomaswheatley on Tue, Dec 13, 2011 at 8:50 AM
Hours after the Environmental Protection Agency slapped the Georgia Department of Transportation with one of its largest penalties ever for polluting streams, a different federal agency awarded the state more than $4 million to study high-speed rail service between Atlanta and Charlotte, N.C. Silly federal government! Via the U.S. Federal Railroad Administration:
“With America’s population set to grow by 100 million over the next 40 years, high-speed rail will play a vital role in reducing congestion and meeting America’s long-term transportation challenges,” said Secretary LaHood. “High speed rail projects like these in Georgia, North Carolina, and Washington, D.C., will employ local workers, use American-made materials and lay a strong foundation for future economic growth.”The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) received a $4.1 million grant to complete a service development plan and environmental study for the 250 mile passenger rail corridor between Atlanta and Charlotte. GDOT is contributing $1.125 million for this phase of the project. GDOT recently announced a new Multi-Modal Passenger Terminal in downtown Atlanta, which is being designed to accommodate high-speed rail service.
But wait — isn't high-speed rail dead?
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Aren't Atlanta and Georgia becoming Meccas for expensive studies of transportation issues? Studies that lead nowhere?
Due to many logistical concerns, the downtown intermodal station will never accommodate HSR. That thing is just another GDOT welfare project like the HOT lanes.
As much as I am a high speed rail enthusiast, seriously, this money is wasted. There is no way that a high speed rail system will be built in this country outside of the Northeast any time soon. These funds could be better used to help struggling regional and local transit agencies across the US (including, but definitely not limited to, MARTA) continue their operations and expand existing systems.
"Aren't Atlanta and Georgia becoming Meccas for expensive studies of transportation issues? Studies that lead nowhere?"
it doesn't necessarily lead nowhere. if the money ever shows up to build the thing (it won't) we'll at least have some ideas about where it should be built, how much it would cost, etc.
"As much as I am a high speed rail enthusiast, seriously, this money is wasted. There is no way that a high speed rail system will be built in this country outside of the Northeast any time soon."
i agree with you but keep in mind the mission of the federal railroad administration
No Mr. Wheatley, High Speed Rail isn't dead.
The market demand for regional passenger rail service is driven by diminishing supplies of easily extractable fossil fuel. As the global price of oil relentlessly continues to increase, automotive and airline travel will continue to become less and less affordable than what we've enjoyed for the last 50~60 years. There is absolutely no political rhetoric or demagoguery that can avert, avoid or escape this inevitable economic trend.
So you better get used to the idea. Passenger rail service is inherently more fuel efficient than either congested highway or short-hop airline service, so it WILL become an increasingly utilized mode of transportation in our nation whether we plan ahead or wait until we have a transportation "crisis". One way or the other, we will be building more passenger rail service.
"State-of-the-art" HSR is a different story. It IS very expensive, especially in the densely populated regions where existing infrastructure obstructs its construction. It would be more pragmatic to revive, upgrade, expand and streamline traditional passenger rail service providing speeds up to 110 mph. If bottlenecks with freight traffic are eliminated, this is perfectly adequate in most regions of our nation for regional intercity trips between 100~450 miles in distance.
The current Amtrak route from Atlanta to DC via Charlotte certainly merits such improvement. However it would also be wise to restore Atlanta to Savannah via Macon. This would provide more convenient access to Amtrak Florida destinations through connections in Savannah, and enhance ridership throughout the region.
No, Mr. Wheatley, high-speed rail is not dead.
It's a long term growth market that nothing can stop.
True, Eric. I am trying to remember, though, if the U.S. Urban Mass Transit Administration exists, where I think this money would need to go to. It is the federal agency that gave MARTA massive amounts of money in the 1970s to build the rail system. I think Reagan shut it down when he came into office.
I agree with Willie Green. Also, intercity passenger rail networks linking Atlanta with several middle-distance cities (such as Charlotte) are a better deal than building yet another airport runway. Rail can get some of those smaller planes off existing Hartsfield-Jackson runways; the more efficient use for those runways is larger planes going greater distances.
There is absolutely no friggin' way this gets done before the EIS expires. This is up there with the biggest waste of $1MM plus in state funds ever.
There are two primary reasons for this. 1. Environmental Assessments and Environmental Impact Studies have limited shelf lives of somewhere between five and seven years, I believe. If a project does not enter the construction phase before the EIS expires, the EIS has to be done all over again.
2. No one has a reasonable clue just how much the project is going to cost to build, let alone operate, though the latest GDOT estimate for maglev in the corridor was $6-9BB for construction alone. I believe that number to be at least $3-6BB short as well. Where the hell is THAT money coming from? Answer: nowhere.
I've seen this happen with BOTH Atlanta to Macon and Atlanta to Athens rail projects. Given the uncertainty of actually funding the project in its entirety, this "investment," by the state and feds in an EIS of $6+ million is wasteful in a way that shouldn't surprise anyone when it comes to those responsible for implementing rail (including our governors, legislators and representatives to U.S. Congress) in Georgia.
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