Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
APTA

APTA: How to Talk to a Detractor of High-Speed Rail

Stop me if you’ve heard these before:

false

“Most Americans don’t use railroads, they use cars.”

“There’s no better example of excessive government spending than the $53 billion President Obama allocated for high-speed rail in his 2012 budget.”

“Would you pay $1,000 so that someone -- probably not you -- can ride high-speed trains 58 miles a year?”

“High-speed rail may be feasible in parts of Europe or Japan, where the population density is much higher, but without enough people packed into a given space, there will never be enough riders to repay the cost of building and maintaining a high-speed rail system.”

Critics of federal initiatives to promote high-speed rail have launched these attacks with great frequency over the past few years. Their targets have been projects in Florida, Wisconsin, California, or even federal regulators and Secretary Ray LaHood. But their primary intended audience was the American people, and, according to the American Public Transportation Association, there has been a "well-oiled campaign" (pun probably intended) to make sure their message was repeated, and loudly.

APTA is trying to unplug that propaganda machine with its new "Inventory of the Criticisms of High-Speed Rail With Suggested Responses and Counterpoints" [PDF]. It methodically lists no fewer than 37 specific objections to pursuing high-speed rail (grouped thematically into eight chapters) and exposes them for “lack of veracity and vision.” The four critiques quoted above (the first two from Diana Furchtgott-Roth in the Washington Examiner, the third from CATO's Randall O'Toole and the last from Thomas Sowell in The Albany Herald), barely scratch the surface of the anti-HSR literature addressed by the report.

The aim of the report is to give HSR supporters a way to return fire when detractors say things like:

    • High-speed rail is too expensive and will never be profitable. APTA says the question of profit is "dangerously misleading and irrelevant" since "the economic value generated by passenger transportation historically is captured by the businesses served by the transportation network, not by the carriers."
    • It doesn't have broad enough support. On the contrary, says APTA: Even the Congressional leaders who have been the most critical of the Obama administration's allocation of rail funds "have set about finding creative ways of financing the initiative in the hope of encouraging greater private-sector support and leadership."
    • HSR might work elsewhere, but it won't work in the U.S. Oh really? Sure, intercity passenger rail currently serves "the smallest share of riders among all modes of passenger transportation," says APTA. But that's changing. "In the Northeast Corridor, intercity trains enjoy a market share almost equal to the airlines, and nationally, ridership on Amtrak is at an all-time high."

Many of the debunked criticisms point to some combination of unrecoverable cost and only marginal benefits, with the assumption that taxpayers will be on the hook for costs and that benefits will be confined to a select few. Not so: APTA cites ample evidence that high-speed passenger rail could be capable of operating profits and wide-ranging benefits.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

Hit-and-Run Driver Kills Pedestrian on Bedford Av. Hours Before Long-Stalled Safety Redesign Begins

The driver was traveling so quickly that the victim was tossed high in the air before landing back on the car hood and being tossed to the side of the road as the killer drove off.

October 11, 2024

Manhattanites To DOT: Open Queensboro Bridge Pedestrian Path ‘Without Delay’

"It’s really inappropriate for the DOT to delay," said one member of Manhattan Community Board 6.

October 11, 2024

Council Seeks to Force DOT to Build 175 E-Bike Charging Hubs 

A new bill would force the DOT to build over 100 charging hubs, but will it be enough to keep up with demand?

October 11, 2024

Friday Video: A Vision for West 72nd Street

Maybe someday, a roadway that devotes 88 percent of its space to a tiny minority of users (drivers) could finally work for everyone. We can dream, can't we?

October 11, 2024

Friday’s Headlines: Yes, We Will Mention the Yankees Edition

We are praying for the first Subway Series since 2000. Plus other news.

October 11, 2024
See all posts