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A robust body of research in transportation has brought to light valuable findings and supported the development of important tools. However, crucial questions of "undone" science remain – topics and methods that current research practices could partially overlook. This review essay argues that transportation research could benefit from more critical reflection on researchers' positionalities, the field's emphasis on some methods and topics rather than others, and the role of funding. The article first considers the questions of funding influence and researcher positionality in the broader social sciences literature and then the implications of funding and positionality in transportation research. In the United States, transportation funding generally emphasises engineering fields and applied solutions; historically underrepresented racial/ethnic groups are a small share of researchers. Because of disciplinary traditions, funding, positionality, and other factors, transportation research paradigms may give relatively less attention to social issues, qualitative data, and local knowledge, while emphasising quantitative data, modelling, physical factors, and infrastructure building. The purpose of this paper is to start a dialogue, using the social science literatures, information about the transportation field, and examples of the importance of social and qualitative methods. Collective dialogue about researchers' positionalities and demographics, different types of knowledge, and the field could uncover important areas and approaches for transportation research and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nearly every supply chain in the United States includes motor t ransportation. Relationships between these carriers and their shippers are sometimes strong, but often tenuous. As environmental sustainability receives increased attention in supply chain management, shippers and carriers are beginning to consider how, if at all, this affects transport practices. To date, little research has been done to explain how shippers and carriers adopt environmental transport practices and the impact this adoption has on the relationship. Using conceptual theory building, this research addresses this gap through a study of a sample of US motor carriers and shippers. Association with a form of public-private partnerships, called voluntary environmental partnerships, plays a large role in the adoption of environmental transportation practices. However, the motivation that drives the association and subsequent adoption of practices influences whether the relationship benefits or suffers. A conceptual framework grounded in institutional theory is developed to address the research questions, and implications from the results are presented for shipper-carrier relationship management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Properly determining the driving range is critical for accurately predicting the sales and social benefits of battery electric vehicles (BEVs). This study proposes a framework for optimizing the driving range by minimizing the sum of battery price, electricity cost, and range limitation cost--referred to as the "range-related cost"--as a measurement of range anxiety. The objective function is linked to policy-relevant parameters, including battery cost and price markup, battery utilization, charging infrastructure availability, vehicle efficiency, electricity and gasoline prices, household vehicle ownership, daily driving patterns, discount rate, and perceived vehicle lifetime. Qualitative discussion of the framework and its empirical application to a sample (N = 361664) representing new car drivers in the United States is included. The quantitative results strongly suggest that ranges of less than 100 miles are likely to be more popular in the BEV market for a long period of time. The average optimal range among U.S. drivers is found to be largely inelastic. Still, battery cost reduction significantly drives BEV demand toward longer ranges, whereas improvement in the charging infrastructure is found to significantly drive BEV demand toward shorter ranges. The bias of a single-range assumption and the effects of range optimization and diversification in reducing such biases are both found to be significant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to reduce energy use and cut emissions that contribute to climate change, countries need to radically reinvent their fossil-fuel intensive transportation systems. As a major consumer of energy and contributor to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the U.S. transportation sector faces extraordinary challenges in the twenty-first century. Transportation in the U.S. depends heavily on fossil-fuel dependent cars and planes to the near exclusion of more energy-efficient electric trains. In order to address this concern, some policy makers refer to “technological optimism” which seeks no systemic change but instead focuses on employing technology to reduce the energy demand and environmental impact of the status quo. On the other hand, some researchers suggest a systematic paradigm shift away from cars and planes to intermodal systems that improve the sustainability of the system as a whole. High-speed rail (HSR) is arguably such an investment that can further this shift and help to achieve a more diversified and balanced transportation system. In this respect, by largely examining the role of the U.S. cars and planes “culture” in the economy, this paper elaborates on how building a HSR system may help U.S. advance towards environmental sustainability in transportation, make a break from the status quo, and create a more balanced, multimodal transportation system that will improve the quality and efficiency of travel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are currently more than 700 cities operating bike share programs. Purported benefits of bike share include flexible mobility, physical activity, reduced congestion, emissions and fuel use. Implicit or explicit in the calculation of program benefits are assumptions regarding the modes of travel replaced by bike share journeys. This paper examines the degree to which car trips are replaced by bike share, through an examination of survey and trip data from bike share programs in Melbourne, Brisbane, Washington, D.C., London, and Minneapolis/St. Paul. A secondary and unique component of this analysis examines motor vehicle support services required for bike share fleet rebalancing and maintenance. These two components are then combined to estimate bike share’s overall contribution to changes in vehicle kilometers traveled. The results indicate an estimated reduction in motor vehicle use due to bike share of approx. 90,000 km per annum in Melbourne and Minneapolis/St. Paul and 243,291 km for Washington, D.C. London’s bike share program however recorded an additional 766,341 km in motor vehicle use. This was largely due to a low car mode substitution rate and substantial truck use for rebalancing of bicycles. As bike share programs mature, evaluation of their effectiveness in reducing car use may become increasingly important. Researchers can adapt the analytical approach proposed in this paper to assist in the evaluation of current and future bike share programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most travel behavior studies focus on discrete mode-choice outcomes. They predict the likelihood of traveling by a single mode (e.g. solo driving, carpooling, taking public transit, walking, and biking). Yet qualitative studies focusing on low-income households suggest that their mode choice does not fit neatly into a single category; they regularly "transportation package," use multiple modes of travel in a single day. The authors use data from the 2009 National Household Travel Summary to examine the extent to which individuals' engage in multimodal travel and to determine whether low-income individuals transportation package more than higher-income individuals, controlling for other factors. The authors find that multimodal travel is less – not more – prevalent among low-income adults than higher-income adults. However, there are important differences in the number and mix of modes that appear to be influenced by income. Moreover, low-income multimodal travelers took far more trips than even higher-income unimodal travelers. This finding suggests that providing viable avenues for multimodal travel may enhance low-income individuals' mobility, particularly if they face barriers to automobile access. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Researchers are applying more holistic approaches to the feedback control of the air transportation system. Many of these approaches rely on economic feedback, including the cost of delays to the airlines. Establishing an accurate mechanism for estimating the cost of a delays for each portion of a flight (gate costs, taxiing in and out costs, and en-route costs) is useful for many aspects of modeling airline behavior and for better understanding the likely impact of regulations. Cook et al. (2004) developed a rigorous methodology and collected data for estimating the components of airline delay costs for various segments of a scheduled flight. The model, based on confidential information from European airlines for 12 types of aircraft ca. 2003, was not transparent with regards to how each of the major components of cost (crew costs, fuel costs, maintenance, depreciation, etc.) impacted that total. This paper describes the development of an airline cost model, based on the Eurocontrol model. The airline cost model explicitly identifies the components of airline costs, is based on US airline cost data, and includes 111 aircraft types. The new model is designed to allow costs to be updated whenever the basic costs change. It considers the type of the aircraft when making calculations, both from the perspective of fuel burn and other costs and uses publically available data on burn rates and block-hour direct operating costs (BHDOC) to obtain these estimates. A case-study analysis of airline costs of operation at 19 major US airports is provided. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Highlights: [•] Variation in passengers levels on routes to/from airports within three multi-airport regions is modeled. [•] Results show aggregate data corroborates existing research on airport choice. [•] “Southwest effect”, fare and market distance are among important correlates. [•] Aggregate data can help establish the extent of a functional multi airport region. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Highlights: [•] It examines how adults’ commuting mode affects children’s school trip mode. [•] It uses data from the US National Household Travel Survey. [•] It uses multinomial, probit, and Heckman models to examine relationships. [•] Adults’ mode choice has more influence on children’s mode than vice versa. [•] Adults’ choice of driving increases chances of children being driven to school. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Essential Air Service (EAS) is a federally subsidized program in the United States that provides air transport connections to rural and remote locations. Critics suggest that EAS is too expensive and that many of its airports are underutilized. Proponents of the program argue that connections between rural locales and larger urban hubs help maintain local economic activity. The purpose of this paper is to examine the variations in local geographic markets and their impacts on service levels. Specifically, we use exploratory and confirmatory statistical approaches combined with spatial analysis to examine the geographic, demographic, socio-economic and local business determinants that contribute to commercial flight activity from EAS airports. Results suggest that geographic proximity to larger hubs, subsidy levels and the local population of the EAS catchment area are critical factors in flight activity at EAS airports. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Understanding the contextual factors associated with why adults walk is important for those interested in increasing walking as a mode of transportation and leisure. This paper investigates the relationships between neighborhood-level sociodemographic context, individual level sociodemographic characteristics and walking for leisure and transport. Data from two community-based studies of adults (n =550) were used to determine the association between the Area Sociodemographic Environment (ASDE), calculated from U.S. Census variables, and individual-level SES as potential correlates of walking behavior. Descriptive statistics, mean comparisons and Pearson’s correlations coefficients were used to assess bivariate relationships. Generalized estimating equations were used to model the relationship between ASDE, as quartiles, and walking behavior. Adjusted models suggest adults engage in more minutes of walking for transportation and less walking for leisure in the most disadvantaged compared to the least disadvantaged neighborhoods but adding individual level demographics and SES eliminated the significant results. However, when models were stratified for free or reduced cost lunch, of those with children who qualified for free or reduced lunch, those who lived in the wealthiest neighborhoods engaged in 10.7min less of total walking per day compared to those living in the most challenged neighborhoods (p <0.001). Strategies to increase walking for transportation or leisure need to take account of individual level socioeconomic factors in addition to area-level measures. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper applies the -convex model in order to investigate the technical efficiency of a representative sample of US airlines over the period 1998–2010. The results are mixed and reveal that US airlines’ efficiency can be influenced by the size of the airline, mergers and acquisitions, and by time. Policy implications are derived. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The persistent infrastructure underinvestment coupled with a significant growth in commercial and non-commercial transportation demand has rendered the US transportation infrastructure unprepared for current and future demands. A significant improvement in the condition of the US transportation infrastructure must be grounded on a more sustainable and proactive approach to address the existing gap between short-term commitments and long-term needs. This paper demonstrates in quantitative terms the value of long-term investments to overcome the historical impediments to infrastructure rehabilitation, including the need for a proactive political structure that compensates for the apparent lack of public accountability, and for the poor understanding of the socio-economic effects caused by transportation infrastructure failures. Such a process could avoid impending catastrophes. This paper presents a modeling paradigm that accounts for multiple stakeholder perspectives and relates the formulation of public policy to a long-term horizon through the modeling of the transportation infrastructure as a system of systems. The methodology enables involved stakeholders and decision makers to visualize their shared interests and to promote coordinated individual decisions in order to achieve a more acceptable level of the overall system of systems objectives. To illustrate the relevance of the proposed modeling approach, we apply it to a bridge maintenance problem and we discuss the synthesis of existing engineering practice with socio-economic factors that aids in streamlining long-term infrastructure goals with immediate short-term needs. The insights obtained from the proposed system of systems methodological approach point to the need to adopt a more forward-looking and collaborative public policy for infrastructure maintenance. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The Interstate Highway System is a product of the 1930s and 1940s, yet remains essential to U.S. transportation in 2012 and for the foreseeable future. This analysis examines how the Interstate Highway System has changed since its inception in 1938, first map in 1947, and the beginning of construction in 1956. The mileage has grown considerably, allowing for many new routes, and the spatial coverage of the network has been extended to allow many new metropolitan areas to be connected. This has lowered connectivity but increased the metropolitan population served. A GIS dataset was created for the 1947 network, allowing it to be compared to the current network using standard accessibility measurement techniques. This research shows that the Interstate System has not kept up with population shifts in the South and West, and there is no correlation between accessibility change and population change. The greatest improvements have in fact taken place in the densest part of the network, not where population or traffic growth has been greatest. It has therefore reinforced advantages held by places already well placed on the original 1947 network. The old American Manufacturing Belt continues to provide an effective regionalization for capturing variations in the Interstate network, though it has become the Rustbelt and is of declining importance within the country. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper analyzes the welfare effects of slot controls on major US airports. We consider the fundamental tradeoff between benefits from queuing delay reduction and costs due to simultaneous schedule delay increase to passengers while imposing slot limits at airports. A set of quantitative models and simulation procedures are developed to explore the possible airline scheduling responses through reallocating and trimming flights. We find that, of the 35 major US airports, a more widespread use of slot controls would improve travelers’ welfare. The results from our analyses suggest that slot caps at the four airports that currently have slot controls (Washington Reagan, Newark, New York LaGuardia, New York John F. Kennedy) are set too high. Further slot reduction by removing some of the flights at these airports could generate additional benefits to passengers. Slot controls can potentially reduce two thirds of the total system delays caused by congestion. A number of implementation and design issues related to the use of slot controls are also discussed in the paper. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: It can be argued that the main thinking in transport planning and policy making stem from neoclassical economics in which individuals are largely assumed to make rational, consistent, and efficient choices, and apply cognitive processes of decision making that maximise their economic utility. Research in behavioural sciences indicates that individuals’ choices in a wide range of contexts deviate from the predictions of the rational man paradigm inspired the research agenda in the field of travel behaviour. New concepts and practices of government aim to apply some behavioural economics insights in the design of behavioural change initiatives and measures, an approach recently advocated in the US and the UK. This paper provides a brief review on the use and potential of behavioural economics from the perspective of transport and climate change, in two main contexts: travel demand modelling and design of behaviour change measures. The discussion of limitations and knowledge gaps associated with the implementation of behavioural economics to a travel behaviour context might contribute to the debate and help in defining research agenda in this area. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This article reviews the prospects for major change in United States transportation policy based on initial experience with the Obama administration’s launch of a high-speed intercity passenger train program. Public policy theory suggests that such paradigmatic change requires a mix of both powering through new goals and puzzling over how to attain them. Pursuit of the Obama administration’s high-speed rail policy agenda to date suggests that when the power to initiate policy goals is much greater than the capacity to achieve them, then political conflict over implementation will become a constraint on policy paradigm shift. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper and the proposed formulation contribute to an apparent gap in transit research design by integrating equity considerations into the transit frequency-setting problem. The proposed approach provides a means to design transit service such that equitable access to basic amenities (e.g., employment, supermarkets, medical services) is provided for low-income populations or disadvantaged populations. The overarching purpose is to improve access via transit to basic amenities to: (1) reduce the disproportionate burden faced by transit dependent populations; and (2) create a more feasible transportation option for low-income households as an opportunity to increase financial security by reducing dependence on personal autos. The formulation is applied to data from a mid-sized US metropolitan area. The example application illustrates the formulation successfully increases access to employment opportunities for residents in areas with high percentages of low-income persons, as well as demonstrates the importance of considering uncertainty in the locations of populations and employment. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper examines the extent that public information, available prior to the initial public offering of shipping companies, is only partially incorporated in the final offer price. The sample includes shipping US initial public offerings that took place in the period 1987–2008, and the analysis employs a set of IPO, market, and firm specific characteristics. Our findings have both theoretical and empirical implications for shipping IPOs, and indicate that there is no asymmetry of information between participants in shipping IPOs. On the theoretical part, the partial adjustment theory of is supported, whereas the winner’s curse theory of is rejected. On the empirical side, the probability of underpricing can be predicted by employing variables available to all IPO participants prior to the issue. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The majority of high reliability organizational (HRO) research analysing the performance of the US Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) air traffic control (ATC), nuclear power plants, and US Navy's aircraft carriers has treated these organizations as individual or separate units studied apart from the larger organizational frameworks in which they function. This research reports the evolution of the FAA's ATC reliability as a part of a larger high reliability system (HRS). A HRS construct was created as a result of a longitudinal case study spanning a period from 1905 to 2002 which analysed the development of the FAA's ATC service. The investigation focused on the emergence and institutionalization of policy- and agency-level HRO attributes in conjunction with emerging industry characteristics associated with high reliability. A three-tier model was identified that helps explain (1) how high reliability, low error operations evolved in the FAA, (2) how the HRS structure currently maintains reliability in the FAA's provision of ATC, and (3) how high reliability management is incorporated within a regulated US industry as a result of federal policy- and agency-level actions. Understanding how the aviation HRS manages the exceptionally safe and highly reliable ATC structure is important because this knowledge can be applied to other complex public safety and security policy and operational areas where high reliability is crucial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this paper, an analytical framework integrating delay, fare, and complaints with passenger air travel has been laid out. Examining aggregate monthly data for US domestic air travel, we have identified causal relationships among fare, complaints, and levels of delay. An analytical framework is proposed that formalizes these relationships in an integrated manner. This integrated framework is then estimated in a set of simultaneous equations by using 118months of data from January 1997 to October 2006. Results show that complaints are influenced by levels of delays. However, complaints are positively influenced by average yield. These findings lead us to support the central hypothesis that complaints are responsive to levels of delays, but they tend to vary according to fare. That is, air travelers are less likely to complain in return for lower fares, even when faced with the same or even higher levels of delays. These findings have important policy implications, including the passengers’ bill of rights and regulator’s choice between market and operational performances. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Past studies of economies of scale in transit have tended to treat the transit industry as a set of similar agencies that have the same cost structure, and have conducted an analysis for the entire range of agency size using a single regression function. This may have caused problems in the interpretation of analysis results because agencies of different sizes that may have different cost structures are treated as a homogeneous data set. In this paper, I examine the issues of economies of scale in the provision of fixed-route bus transit service in the USA, using level of contracting as a variable to classify agencies into three different size groups. In this analysis, using a significantly larger pooled data set (compared to previous studies) constructed from the National Transit Database of the US Federal Transit Administration from 1992 to 2000, I found that agencies with different levels of contracting exhibit very different relationships between cost per vehicle hour and agency size. Applying the observed range of agency size, I also found diseconomies of scale for all agency sizes with all levels of contracting, even when I utilized a quadratic function for the regression equation. While the analysis is limited since the model did not control for many other explanatory variables, the findings suggest that the level of contracting is possibly an important variable, among many attributes of transit systems, with which to classify agencies into different size groups, each of which has a different transit cost structure. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper highlights geospatial science-related innovations and developments conducted by the Center for Transportation Analysis (CTA) at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. CTA researchers have been developing integrated inter-modal transportation solutions through innovative and cost-effective research and development for many years. Specifically, this paper profiles CTA-developed Geographic Information System (GIS) products that are publicly available. Examples of these GIS-related products include: the CTA Transportation Networks; GeoFreight system; and the Web-based Multi-Modal Routing Analysis System. In addition, an application on assessment of railroad hazmat routing alternatives is also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper I examine pedestrian-motor-vehicle conflicts in US cities as competing forms of rationality based in particular values, techniques, and material forms. The kernel of dispute is the transportation engineer's focus on ‘traffic flow’ in allowing motor vehicles to move as efficiently as possible versus the pedestrian advocate's desire for ‘place’ as the intimate context of urban life. I consider the City of Oakland's Pedestrian Master Plan as a challenge to the mandate for traffic flow operationalized by the Transportation Research Board's Highway Capacity Manual. These values and techniques shape intersections, pedestrian crossings, street corners, and other taken-for-granted material forms in the urban built environment. Within the constraints of shared right-of-way, these competing rationalities are negotiated through spatial and temporal strategies that, historically, have resulted in the hierarchical ordering of the automobile over pedestrians in the US city. However, a growing emphasis on walking, bicycling, and public-transit-riding is reshaping the predominant values, techniques, and material forms to facilitate street design for multiple transportation modes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Miami Metro Transit Authority Master Plan was originated 25 years ago, and its goals remain largely unmet. In approximately the same time period the Dallas Area Rapid Transit Authority has completed its phase one plan. Using a comparative approach, this study seeks to elucidate transportation model outcomes which are suitable to region specific needs. Our investigative intent is twofold. First, our analysis will yield policies that facilitate greater functionality in terms of access and time-efficient methods of transportation. Second, the analysis will reveal policies and factors influencing transportation outcomes in geographically dispersed locales such as Miami Dade County and Dallas County. This analysis will seek to explain the failure or the success of the public transit development with attention paid to political and technical factors. Experiences in these two Sunbelt metropolises will shed light on policies that might enhance public transit development elsewhere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: US Department of Transportation research funds historically have been awarded on the basis of competition and merit review. Over the last 15 years, however, transportation research programs have seen dramatic growth in earmarking, a practice in which Congress designates research funds for specific institutions named in legislation. This paper discusses driving forces for and potential risks associated with this practice and presents data on earmarking trends from five USDOT agencies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article discusses the trend of transit use as transportation in the U.S. The trend in transit use is always hard to tract. Transit use is a relatively small component of all travel in most places and, therefore is subject to considerable variation in surveys. There are now multiple surveys around, all with slightly different approaches, all guaranteed to provide slightly different answers regarding transit use and shares. The most useful thing is to treat each as a trend device and not get too excited about attempting to relate between the surveys.

The Transportation Science Section Dissertation Prize is the most prestigious award a new scholar in the field of transportation science can receive. To be considered, a thesis must be nominated by the thesis supervisor. The awards were announced at the 2001 "Informs" meeting in Miami Beach, Florida. The committee received 13 submissions, which is almost the same as the total number of submissions for the last two years combined. Some of the members of prize committee are, Elise Miller-Hooks, Pitu Mirchandani, Maria Grazia Speranza, and Michael Zhang. The First-Prize awardees are Alan Erera from the University of California at Berkeley, California, and Joan Walker from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at Cambridge, Massachusetts. There were also two second-place honorable mentions awarded to Andrew Armacost and Jon Bottom, both from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The research topics for the first prize are "Design of Large-Scale Logistics Systems for Uncertain Environments," and "Extended Discrete-Choice Models: Integrated Framework, Flexible Error Structures, and Latent Variables."

National studies have provided an important perspective on the functioning of the U.S. transportation system. They have increased our understanding of the individual modes of transportation and how they interrelate. These studies have focused attention on the major national transportation issues and assessed options to addressing these issues. They have often provided guidance for national transportation programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the concept of intermodalism in transportation. Lack of a comprehensive intermodal definition; Meaning of intermodalism according to the Eno Transportation Foundation; Goal envisioned by the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA); Study undertaken to examine multimodal non-containerized freight practices.

The article presents abstracts for the 1997 Transportation Science Section (TSS) Dissertation Prize Competition. The TSS Dissertation Prize Competition is the oldest and most prestigious competition for doctoral dissertations in the transportation science area. Eligible doctoral dissertations were those completed and submitted between June 1, 1996 and May 31, 1997 in the area of transportation science. To be considered, a dissertation had to be nominated by the thesis supervisor. The paper Dynamic Network Flow With Uncertain Arc Capacities, holds that a directed graph is dynamic if each node has a time value and each arc is directed forward in time. A dynamic network flow model is a kind of network flow model where the associated network graph is dynamic. In many real-world problems, current decisions are based on an uncertain future. The author extend the dynamic network flow model to use a set of arc capacity scenarios, which represent a discrete random capacity distribution.

Presents abstracts of dissertations submitted to the 1996 Transportation Science Section Dissertion Prize Competition in the U.S. "Dynamic Control of Spatial Resource Allocation Problems," by Tassio Carvalho; "An Optimization Based Bidding Process: A New Framework for Shipper-Carrier Relationships," by Christopher Caplice; "Dynamic Queueing Systems: Behavior and Approximations for Individual Queues and for Networks," by Kerry Malone.

Investigates an incremental and cost-effective transition process from an existing transportation system to an improved system. Answers the question of how to design transportation systems; Types of transportation design problems; Activity network techniques; Activity network approach; Applicability to various transportation systems.

Presents a research model showing how an optimization approach in urban transit system can be successful without oversimplifying spatial characteristics and demand patterns of urban areas in the United States. Design for heterogenous urban environment; Characteristics of route and station locations; Minimization of costs; Vehicle capacity constraints.

Highlights: [•] This paper is based on the review of High-Speed Rail (HSR) policies in the US. [•] This paper is based on case studies of HSR projects in Asia and Europe. [•] We identify the challenges in making the case for HSR development in the US. [•] We make recommendation on policy issues to make HSR successful in the US. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Considerable attention has been given to high-speed rail in the US with the Obama administration’s initiatives to invest in its development. This viewpoint discusses the utility of high-speed rail, as well as some major challenges facing its application to the transport geography of the US. High-speed rail has the potential to alleviate automobile and short-haul air traffic congestion in several regional corridors throughout the US, which would have significant economic, environmental, and quality-of-life benefits. Though a national network may not be feasible, a series of interconnected regional corridors would make a de facto national high-speed network that would represent a significant improvement over existing national rail operations, which outside of the Northeast and Pacific Coast are virtually non-existent. However, before this can be achieved major issues of engineering and track right of way, service provision, and stop access require resolution. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]