FRA Needs to Expand Its Guidance on High Speed Rail Project Viability Assessments

The Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 (PRIIA) directed the Secretary to establish a high-speed and intercity passenger rail (HSIPR) program, and authorized approximately $4 billion over a 5-year period for HSIPR investments. The statute allowed the Secretary 2 years to develop program rules. However, four months after PRIIA’s enactment, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) appropriated another $8 billion for HSIPR to be allocated under significantly compressed timelines, and included a requirement to develop interim program rules within 120 days of ARRA’s passage. The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is responsible for implementing the HSIPR program. As part of this responsibility, the Agency assesses the economic viability of each proposed HSIPR project and decides which projects to fund. The Administration’s Fiscal Year 2013 budget allocates $47 billion for HSIPR over six years. Consequently, potential grantees will need to develop their HSIPR projects’ viability analyses if they are to justify additional funding needs. The U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General (OIG) initiated this audit to (1) identify key focus areas for analyses of HSIPR project economic viability, and (2) assess FRA’s requirements and guidance for HSIPR grant applicants on the information they must provide to FRA on project viability. OIG identified three key focus areas in assessing project viability. (1) The first focus area is the set of elements with the greatest impact on the three analysis components—revenue forecasts, public benefits valuations, and O&M cost estimates. (2) The second focus area is the level of analytical detail required at the preliminary, intermediate, and final phases in the development of a HSIPR proposal. (3) The third focus area is the set of issues central to methodological soundness.

• Record URL:
  • http://www.oig.dot.gov/sites/dot/files/HSIPR%20Forecasting%20Report%5E3-28-12.pdf
• 
• Corporate Authors:

  Department of Transportation

  Office of Inspector General, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590

  Federal Railroad Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Publication Date: 2012-3-28

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Pagination: 21p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Benefit cost analysis; Cost estimating; Economic analysis; Economic impacts; Financial analysis; High speed rail; Management; Revenues
• Identifier Terms: U.S. Federal Railroad Administration
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Economics; Railroads; I10: Economics and Administration;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01376252
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: CR-2012-083
• Files: TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: Jul 24 2012 9:03AM