An interesting study, just completed by America 2050, examined 27,000 city pairs for suitability for future HSR corridors. http://www.america2050.org/pdf/Where-HSR-Works-Best.pdf
Not surprisingly, the NE Corridor, California, and Chicago all ranked very high, but when the selection criteria of population, density, GDP, local transit, highway congestion and distance between cities were applied, SEA-PDX came out close to the top.
I�ll let you draw your own conclusions after reading it.
OR and WA Dot�s are currently applying for billions in Federal Stimulus funding to continue building our own Cascade Corridor HSR network. As fossil fuel gets scarcer and more expensive, and alternate energy sources (mostly electric) are developed, we will thank our DOT and legislature for their vision to promote an alternative transportation choice that pollutes our atmosphere less than planes or autos, AND is easily electrified.
Mike Skehan, Member, All Aboard Washington
Sound Transit Latest News
- Sound Transit contractors connect University Link tunnels to downtown Seattle
- Sound Transit to hold public hearing on bus fares in downtown Seattle
- Thursday’s presidential visit will affect bus service
- Sound Transit seeks volunteers to serve on agency oversight panel
- Mudslides cancel north line Sounder service Friday
Your Metro Commute
- Metro’s Thursday AM commute has ended, Norwegian Constitution Day Parade, plus upcoming events that may impact service
- Metro’s Thursday AM commute begins quietly, the Norwegian Constitution Day Parade plus upcoming events that may impact service
- Metro’s Wednesday PM commute has ended, plus upcoming events that may impact transit
- Routes 39 & 60 have resumed normal operation at the VA Hospital loop
- Routes 39 & 60 are currently not serving the stop in the VA Hospital loop due to a blocking incident
I saw that, too. I couldn’t tell if they had included Vancouver, BC or not in any of the city pairs. The mention it as a member of the Cascadia megaregion, but I wonder if they calculated SEA-YVR or PDX-YVR pairs, and if so, how that would have impacted the rankings.
There are some beautiful graphics in that report. I love “America’s Emerging Megaregions.”
It’s interesting that we beat out NYC in per capita GDP. And we don’t even rate in the top 10 for traffic (despite all of the complaining I hear).
I wonder if they could do corridors instead of city pairs. I’m sure the YVR-SEA-PDX corridor would rank quite higher, at least higher than this.
Here’s a bigger version of that map http://www.rpa.org/america2050/sync/elements/america2050map.png
Wow. Gotta suck to be in Boise or Salt Lake City, though.