Technology Transfer of Tools for Passenger Rail Environmental Analysis

2000 ◽  
Vol 1713 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-47
Author(s):  
Marilyn Duffey ◽  
David Freytag
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Analysis ◽  
Information Exchange ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
The United States ◽  
Advanced Technology ◽  
Transportation Industry ◽  
High Speed Rail ◽  
Passenger Rail ◽  
Transfer Of Information

It is time to transfer the advanced technology and processes specifically developed for conducting the environmental analysis of high-speed rail (HSR) corridors to other large-scale infrastructure projects. Because HSR projects cover thousands of miles and traverse multiple geographic and land use conditions, the most advanced electronic tools available have conveyed vast amounts of information into quantitative, tabular, and graphic format for analysis. A geographic information system allows comprehensive analysis of multiple layers of information in formats compatible with the electronic files used to engineer the alignment. A global positioning system can verify previously recorded data and locate and record new data, transferring information to a comprehensive database readily accessible to technical analysts and agency staff. Digital photographs and digital files of geographic contours, combined with engineering plans and profiles, provide the information needed to create a video simulation of HSR for public presentations. These tools have been used effectively in information exchange and decision making during environmental reviews for HSR projects, and they are compatible with personal computers and the Internet for transfer of information to potential users. The Florida HSR project and the ongoing California HSR project have used these tools effectively to streamline environmental review and to produce information in electronic formats for other projects in the same area. These advanced technological tools for HSR projects should be shared with the rest of the transportation industry, specifically for the environmental analysis of other planned passenger rail projects in the United States.

A Comprehensive Framework for Assessing Passenger Rail Services: A Case Study of the Hoosier State Line

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Dimitra Pyrialakou ◽  
Konstantina (Nadia) Gkritza
Keyword(s):  
High Speed ◽  
Systems Approach ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
The United States ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Fiscal Year ◽  
High Speed Rail ◽  
Passenger Rail ◽  
Rail Services

The development of a nationwide commuter and high-speed rail (HSR) network has been suggested as a promising and “greener” passenger transport solution with the potential to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, given efficient planning that will ensure sufficient ridership and sustainable investment. It is anticipated that passenger rail growth will bring regional economic benefits as well as promote energy independence, transportation safety, and livable communities with improved accessibility and inter-connectivity. Much research has been conducted to identify the benefits and costs associated with the operation, maintenance, and improvement of passenger rail services. However, previous studies supporting investment in passenger rail have generally considered one evaluation factor at a time. Additionally, studies suggesting that investment in passenger rail is not cost-effective give more weight to quantifiable benefits and current conditions, and rarely consider changes in public preferences influenced by policies and fostered conditions to encourage mode shifts. Thus, the literature lacks a comprehensive approach that would evaluate investments in passenger rail, accounting for quantifiable and other benefits, in light of environmental, resilience and sustainability, economic, demand, and feasibility factors. Using a case study of the Hoosier State line, this study illustrates a systems approach for comprehensively assessing passenger rail services in the United States in terms of the system’s existing opportunities and future directions. The Hoosier State line operates four days per week between Indianapolis, Indiana and Chicago, Illinois with four intermediate stops. As of October 1, 2013, the State of Indiana, local communities, and Amtrak reached an agreement to support the Hoosier State line for the next fiscal year (2013–2014).

Measuring Concrete Crosstie Rail Seat Pressure Distribution With Matrix Based Tactile Surface Sensors

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher T. Rapp ◽  
J. Riley Edwards ◽  
Marcus S. Dersch ◽  
Christopher P. L. Barkan ◽  
Jose Mediavilla ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Speed ◽  
Laboratory Data ◽  
Field Testing ◽  
The United States ◽  
System Component ◽  
Valuable Insight ◽  
High Speed Rail ◽  
Passenger Rail ◽  
Increasing Demand ◽  
Increased Strength

A sustained increase in gross rail loads and cumulative freight tonnages, as well as increased interest in high and higher-speed passenger rail development in the United States, is placing an increasing demand on railway infrastructure. According to a railway industry survey conducted by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), rail seat deterioration (RSD) was identified as one of the primary factors limiting concrete crosstie service life. Therefore, it can be seen that there is a need for infrastructure components with increased strength, durability, and ability to maintain the tighter geometric track tolerances under demanding loading conditions. Researchers have hypothesized that localized crushing of the concrete rail seat is one of five potential mechanisms that contribute to RSD. Therefore, to better understand this mechanism, UIUC is utilizing a matrix based tactile surface sensor (MBTSS) to quantify the forces acting at the interface between the bottom of the rail pad and the concrete tie rail seat. The MBTSS measures the forces and distribution of pressure as a load is applied to the rail seat. Preliminary laboratory testing has shown that higher modulus rail pads distribute forces poorer than lower modulus rail pads, leading to localized areas with high contact pressure and a higher probability of crushing. Testing has also shown that as the lateral/vertical (L/V) force ratio increases, the pressure on the field side of the rail seat also increases, possibly accelerating RSD. The objective of future field testing is to be able to validate the assumptions made from this preliminary laboratory data. Data collected and analyzed throughout this research project will provide valuable insight into developing future concrete crosstie and fastening system component designs that meet the operational and loading demands of high speed rail and joint passenger/freight corridors.

High Speed Rail for America’s Regional Transportation: A Study of Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
X. Wang ◽  
P. Bortner ◽  
W. Peterson ◽  
D. McCullough
Keyword(s):  
High Speed ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
The United States ◽  
Transportation Systems ◽  
High Speed Rail ◽  
Rail Network ◽  
Passenger Rail ◽  
Near Term ◽  
Benefits And Costs

After 60 years and more than $1.9 trillion of investments, the United States has developed one of the world’s most advanced highway and aviation systems. However, these transportation systems are now at a gridlock. To reduce the congestion and increase efficiency of America’s regional transportation, rail transit should be considered as a promising, long-term solution. The recent stimulus package provides planners an opportunity to reconsider the potentials of regional passenger rail network, especially the high speed rail system. After examining the development history and current condition of America’s passenger rail network, the paper focuses on Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor (NEC) and proposes three different improvement plans that can increase travel speeds and attract more ridership: (1) return the corridor to a state of good repair; (2) construct a new dedicated High-Speed Rail track; and (3) develop a multimodal-shared and connected corridor. Each plan has its advantages and drawbacks, and measuring the extent of each plan’s benefits and costs is known to be challenging. To evaluate these plans, the paper utilizes a non-traditional cost-benefit analysis method which considers changes in ridership, life-cycle costs as well as each plan’s economic and environmental impacts (negative or positive). It is found that returning the existing corridor to a state of good repair is the most efficient improvement plan in near term.

When is High-Speed Rail Fast Enough?

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth G. Sislak
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
The United States ◽  
High Speed Rail ◽  
Hampton Roads ◽  
Capital Costs ◽  
Passenger Rail ◽  
Rail Service

The vision for high-speed rail in America includes corridors that are “emerging” as candidates for investment in passenger rail service improvements including increasing maximum authorized speeds to 90 and 110 mph. Will increasing speeds up to 110 mph be cost effective in terms of attracting new riders? This paper will explore the results of studies examining incremental capital costs and the marginal ridership and revenue increases in the Richmond – Hampton Roads passenger rail project and other current emerging high-speed rail corridors throughout the United States.

scholarly journals Benchmark of the Trends of Spatial Inequality in World Megaregions

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 6456
Author(s):  
Ziqi Liu ◽  
Ming Zhang ◽  
Liwen Liu
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Investment Strategy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Spatial Inequality ◽  
Theil Index ◽  
High Speed Rail ◽  
International Learning ◽  
Regional Product ◽  
Index Measure

There have been growing concerns around the world over the rising spatial inequality (SI) amid fast and vast globalization. This paper presents an effort to benchmark the conditions and trends of spatial inequality in 37 megaregions in the United States, Europe, and China. Furthermore, the study selected three megaregion examples and analyzed the effect of developing high-speed rail (HSR) as an infrastructure investment strategy on reshaping the spatial pattern of job accessibility. The study measures spatial inequality with the Theil index of gross regional product and with the rank-size coefficient of polycentricity. Results show that spatial inequality exists and varies in magnitude within and between megaregions. On average, Chinese megaregions exhibited the level of spatial inequality about two times or more of those in the U.S. and European megaregions. The decade between 2006 and 2016 saw a decrease in the Theil index measure of megaregional inequality in China, but a slight increase in the United States and Europe. Fast growing megaregions exhibit high levels and rising trends of spatial inequality regardless of the country or continent setting. HSR helps improve mobility and accessibility; yet the extent to which HSR reduces spatial inequality is context dependent. This study presents a first attempt to assess and compare the spatial inequality conditions and trajectories in world megaregions aiming at promoting international learning.

scholarly journals Address of the President Sir Henry Dale, C.B.E., at the Anniversary Meeting, 1 December 1941

1942 ◽  
Vol 179 (978) ◽  
pp. 233-260 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Technical College ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Electrical Engineering ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Past ◽  
Pure Mathematics ◽  
Symbolic Structure ◽  
The Church ◽  
Insight Into

This is the first occasion on which I have had the great honour of addressing the Royal Society on this anniversary of its foundation. According to custom, I begin with brief mention of those whom death has taken from our Fellowship during the past year, and whose memories we honour. Alfred Young (1873-1940), distinguished for his contributions to pure mathematics, was half brother to another of our Fellows, Sydney Young, a chemist of eminence. Alfred Young had an insight into the symbolic structure and manipulation of algebra, which gave him a special place among his mathematical contemporaries. After a successful career at Cambridge he entered the Church, and passed his later years in the country rectory of Birdbrook, Essex. His devotion to mathematics continued, however, throughout his life, and he published a steady stream of work in the branch of algebra which he had invented, and named ‘quantitative substitutional analysis’. He lived to see his methods adopted by Weyl in his quantum mechanics and spectroscopy. He was elected to our Fellowship in 1934. With the death of Miles Walker (1868-1941) the Society loses a pioneer in large-scale electrical engineering. Walker was a man of wide interests. He was trained first for the law, and even followed its practice for a period. Later he studied electrical engineering under Sylvanus Thompson at the Finsbury Technical College and became his assistant for several years. Thereafter, encouraged by Thompson, he entered St John’s College, Cambridge, with a scholarship, and graduated with 1st Class Honours in both the Natural Sciences and the Engineering Tripos. Having entered the service of the British Westinghouse Company, he was sent by them to the United States of America to study electrical engineering with the parent company in Pittsburgh. On his return to England he became their leading designer of high-speed electrical generators

Compound Poisson—Gamma Regression Models for Dollar Outcomes That Are Sometimes Zero

2012 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 387-399 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin E. Lauderdale
Keyword(s):  
Regression Models ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Simulated Data ◽  
The United States ◽  
High Speed Rail ◽  
Compound Poisson ◽  
Compound Distribution ◽  
Tweedie Distribution ◽  
United States Federal Government

Political scientists often study dollar-denominated outcomes that are zero for some observations. These zeros can arise because the data-generating process is granular: The observed outcome results from aggregation of a small number of discrete projects or grants, each of varying dollar size. This article describes the use of a compound distribution in which each observed outcome is the sum of a Poisson—distributed number of gamma distributed quantities, a special case of the Tweedie distribution. Regression models based on this distribution estimate loglinear marginal effects without either the ad hoc treatment of zeros necessary to use a log-dependent variable regression or the change in quantity of interest necessary to use a tobit or selection model. The compound Poisson—gamma regression is compared with commonly applied approaches in an application to data on high-speed rail grants from the United States federal government to the states, and against simulated data from several data-generating processes.

Using Large-Scale Programs to Help Develop Technological Capabilities

2021 ◽  
pp. 413-435
Author(s):  
Xudong Gao
Keyword(s):  
Technological Innovation ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Power Transmission ◽  
Technological Capability ◽  
Capability Development ◽  
High Speed Rail ◽  
Equipment Industry ◽  
The World ◽  
Power Generation Equipment

China is a developing country but has made impressive progress in technological capability development. One strategy proved to be effective is the use of large-scale programs to help technological capability development. Examples include the subway equipment industry, the high-speed rail industry, the power generation equipment industry, the power transmission industry, the telecom equipment industry, etc. In all these sectors, China was lagging behind the technological innovation frontier before the related large-scale programs but is now among the world leaders. In this chapter we will try to understand the process of initiating and managing these large-scale programs.

California High-Speed Rail

2016 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Jeff Morales
Keyword(s):  
High Speed ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Job Creation ◽  
The United States ◽  
High Speed Rail ◽  
Short And Long Term ◽  
Environmentally Sensitive ◽  
Rail Station

California has started construction on the first true high-speed rail system in the United States. In this chapter, the CEO of the California High-Speed Rail Authority describes how the state's historic investment in new high-speed rail infrastructure will benefit Californians. Benefits include job creation, statewide modernization of existing local rail lines, short and long-term reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, preservation of agricultural land and environmentally sensitive habitats, advanced clean and green construction practices and technologies, a commitment to 100% renewable energy use, and assistance to partner cities on transit-oriented planning for high-speed rail station areas.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document