How urban rail investment pays dividends for cities

The main findings of a study of public transportation in 35 cities around the world is the subject of this article. It shown that investing in public transportation will drive growth by cutting costs; also stated is that the most effective means of increasing capacity is rail. Even though cities account for around 80% of global economic output, and more than half the global population live there, cities often lack the funds or fail to make the case for investment in public transportation. The study's objective was to establish the economic cost of inefficient transportation and the potential economic benefits of investing in it. Taken into account the true cost of commuting involved the consideration of journey time, the value of time, fares, crowding, ease of use, and reliability. The 35 cities evaluated fell into three categories, as follows: 1) well-established cities in North America, Europe and Australia with a need for upgrading and supplementing existing infrastructure; 2) high-density compact centers that comprise cities in China, Korea, the Arabian peninsula, Japan and Singapore, where infrastructure is relatively modern but with rapidly growing demand; and 3) less-wealthy emerging cities in Asia, Africa, Mexico and South America, where there is rapid population growth and infrastructure investment is relatively recent.

• Record URL:
  http://www.railjournal.com/index.php/financial/how-urban-rail-investment-pays-dividends-for-cities.html
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/07445326
• Authors:
  • Briginshaw, David
• Publication Date: 2014-7

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Figures; Photos;
• Pagination: pp 18-19
• Serial:
  • International Railway Journal
  • Volume: 54
  • Issue Number: 7
  • Publisher: Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corporation
  • ISSN: 0744-5326

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Cities; Commuting; Costs; Economic impacts; Investments; Rail transit; Urban transit
• Geographic Terms: Africa; Arabian Peninsula; Asia; Australia; China; Europe; Japan; Korea; Mexico; North America; Singapore; South America
• Subject Areas: Economics; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; I10: Economics and Administration; I20: Design and Planning of Transport Infrastructure;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01532987
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Aug 7 2014 9:41AM