Library: Envisioning
a National Network
The NARP position paper, “Modern
Passenger Rail: A National Necessity,” calls upon
Congress and the Administration to create a vision of a high-quality
national rail system connecting all regions of the country
and serving all major transportation routes.
Just what that vision should be was left open to discussion
for many reasons, one of which is NARP’s lack of resources
to collect and analyze the necessary data to make that determination.
It is clear to many, however, that the current network is
much too small.
The evolution of the national highway network provides an
excellent model for the development of a national rail network.
In 1921 the Federal Highway Administration established a research
program designed to study the highway needs of the country.
It resulted in Toll Roads and Free Roads, a master plan for
a 26,700-mile network connecting the whole country, which
was published in 1938 and revised and expanded in 1947.
Debate over funding this network continued for nearly a decade.
There were several large issues such as funding mechanisms
and labor issues that needed to be overcome. Funding proposals
came and went; the process was stalled.
In 1956, the local highway plans of cities were added into
the master plan. The plan was published in a simple book of
maps entitled “The General Location of a System of Interstate
Highways” and distributed to every congressional office.
This was the catalyst that made overcoming the other issues
feasible. The Federal Highway Act of 1956 created the interstate
system and started the highway trust fund with a grant of
$25 billion in general revenue funds.
Comparing the original
1938 highway map with the federal
government’s current plans for a national high-speed
rail system illustrates why rail has had a difficult time
moving forward. Not only is their proposed system not politically
viable, but it does not begin to serve the needs of the country.
It also demonstrates a lack of confidence in rail’s
capabilities.
A truly national rail network can be envisioned using data
from a travel survey conducted by the Bureau of Travel Statistics
in 1995. By graphically representing high travel volumes on
corridors between Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) a
much more comprehensive
map begins to emerge. But even this map does not tell
the whole story – only one third of all travel happens
between MSA’s. It also does not account for the cumulative
effect of intermediate travel within those corridors.
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