THE STATES, NEW MODES, AND FEDERAL TRANSPORTATION POLICY: LESSONS FROM HISTORY FOR HIGH-SPEED RAIL

High-Speed Rail (HSR) advocates have looked mainly to the Interstate Highway System as a model for sustained federal investment in HSR projects across the nation. However, the pattern of the development of new surface transportation modes suggest that the first major investments have usually been undertaken by a few states using state funds. The federal government has not pioneered new modes, but rather transformed disjointed state investments into a national network, as the success of the states' initial efforts creates a broader coalition in Congress for the new mode. With developments in Florida, California, Washington, and elsewhere, it seems that HSR will find its state pioneers in the first decade of the 21st century, and the next step for its advocates is not to seek major federal support but to use the public attention on those states' projects to secure additional investments in other states.

• Record URL:
  https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015048134814?urlappend=%3Bseq=267
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/oclc/7938948
• Corporate Authors:

  Eno Transportation Foundation

  1250 I Street, NW, Suite 750
  Washington, DC  United States  20005
• Authors:
  • Aggarwala, R T
• Publication Date: 1998

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: References;
• Pagination: p. 53-67
• Serial:
  • Transportation Quarterly
  • Volume: 52
  • Issue Number: 3
  • Publisher: Eno Transportation Foundation
  • ISSN: 0278-9434

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: High speed rail; Intergovernmental relations; Mode S; State government; Transportation policy
• Identifier Terms: Interstate Highway System
• Old TRIS Terms: Federal state relationships
• Subject Areas: Policy; Railroads;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00758775
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jan 13 1999 12:00AM