California High-Speed Rail Research Articles

California’s cap-and-trade program: is it effective in advancing social, economic, and environmental equity?

PurposeCompanies affected by California’s cap-and-trade legislation are allotted certain credits for production that can be used or sold and can purchase additional credits from the state, which become a revenue source to be used for activities that reduce carbon emissions. The purpose of this paper is to investigate who ultimately pays for this program, its effectiveness in reducing carbon emissions in accordance with established goals, and the related effectiveness to advance social, economic, and environmental equity.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology used for this research is secondary data analysis, triangulating three sources: California’s Climate Change Investment Reports, 2019-2021; repositories maintained by the California High-Speed Rail Authority and the California Air Resources Board; and a review of the literature and websites from other professional sources which addressed, directly and indirectly, the topics and questions explored in the study.FindingsKey findings include evidence of enhancing social and environmental equity but ineffectiveness in reducing carbon emissions in accordance with state goals. Furthermore, the program displays evidence of economic inequity as it demonstrates characteristics of regressive taxation and an inability of low-income persons to acquire electric vehicles due to high costs.Originality/valueThe research effort is unique in that no other academic efforts were located which attempt to examine the cap-and-trade program’s effectiveness in attaining its goals.

Political Preferences and the Spatial Distribution of Infrastructure: Evidence from California's High-Speed Rail

Political Preferences and the Spatial Distribution of Infrastructure: Evidence from California's High-Speed Rail

Political Preferences and the Spatial Distribution of Infrastructure: Evidence from California's High-Speed Rail

Political Preferences and the Spatial Distribution of Infrastructure: Evidence from California's High-Speed Rail

Funding the High-Speed Rail: A Case Study of the California Project

Introduction: High-speed rail (HSR) projects are considered high-stake investments– both in construction, operation, and maintenance. Thus, HSR requires financing from various sources - public, private or a mix of both, as the case maybe. Traditional funding for HSR has usually been the public funds through various bonds and taxes. However, public funds are not easy to come by and are usually subjected to strict audits and reviews. Therefore, alternative funding sources are always sought after, especially those that are sustainable. Methods: A multiobjective optimization problem is proposed in this paper encompassing revenue generation, accessibility maximization and workforce-centric access measure (WAM) consideration for financing HSR development costs and justifying its purpose. The procedure identifies key HSR stations that could be developed and improved to positively increase revenue collected through taxes on surrounding properties that appreciated due to the HSR, or the appreciation that either occurred through accessibility increase or WAM considerations from the HSR. Results and Discussion: Such key stations that score high in one or more of these considerations could be considered for further development by policymakers and planners. Based on the multiobjective optimization problem proposed in this paper, and with the California HSR as an example, the three proposed stations of San Francisco Transbay Terminal, University City and Downtown Merced are recommended to be developed and improved to attract economic growth with the HSR line. Conclusion: The findings could help authorities focus on these stations (and similar others) for a sustainable means of at least partially funding California’s HSR project.

Dynamic responses of bridge substructures subjected to high-speed trains

The substructures of high-speed rail (HSR) structures are typically rigid, as they are designed to meet stringent longitudinal displacement limits specified in most HSR design standards. For site conditions such as deep valleys and soft soils, tall columns or low foundation stiffness can lead to a flexible substructure system. Flexible substructures are preferred for bridges in seismic areas because their lower horizontal frequencies yield smaller seismic forces. This cost-effective design strategy is recognised in the California HSR design criteria manual, which specifies larger relative longitudinal displacement limits. In this work, the influences of substructure flexibility on relative displacements were investigated through dynamic analyses of 36 different numerical models representing a 20-span viaduct supported by substructures with first horizontal frequencies of 0.566–3.706 Hz. Four key parameters were investigated: column height, span length, bearing plan layout and ratio of depth to span length. Train models from BS EN 1991-2:2003 were used as dynamic moving loads. The results of this study show that the chances of dynamic responses larger than design limits do exist as the stiffness of substructures departs from being rigid, where resonance effects on substructures are the main contributor to response amplification.

Sustainability of high-speed rail: a comparative study

High-speed railways can move passengers and goods cost-effectively and sustainably. However, there is a need to consider the objectives of high-speed rail (HSR) systems and to analyse eventual public benefits in order to minimise economic risk. Currently, there are three major HSR systems in development around the world – Rail Baltica in northern Europe, California High-Speed Rail (CAHSR) in the USA and High Speed Two (HS2) in the UK. In this paper, the benefits of investment in these three projects are investigated and possible consequences and expected outcomes are evaluated. The key influencing factors of HSR sustainability are considered, such as changes in population, population density, ability to pay, the type of energy used and existing railway networks. Data envelopment analysis was used to evaluate the ‘technical efficiency’ of the selected schemes. This type of analysis has been widely used before to benchmark performance and determine best practice. The expected outcome of this research is better understanding of the demand for railway services and of the economic, social and environmental aspects of the sustainability of Rail Baltica, CAHSR and HS2.

Probabilistic Evaluation of Seismic Isolation Effects for a California High-Speed Rail Prototype Bridge

AbstractIncreasingly, seismic isolation (SI) has been adopted in buildings and highway bridges to mitigate damage from earthquakes. However, its appropriateness in high-speed rail (HSR) bridges rem...

Improving the effectiveness of public participation in public infrastructure megaprojects

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate how to improve the effectiveness of public participation in public infrastructure megaprojects (PIMs). Conflicts among stakeholders and uncertainty disrupt the success of PIMs when public participation is ineffective.Design/methodology/approachSecondhand data are collected to study the effectiveness of public participation in the Beijing–Shenyang High-Speed Rail (China) and the California High-Speed Rail (USA). The employed research method is an inductive case study.FindingsIneffective public participation can cause schedule and cost overruns and increase uncertainty in PIMs. The ambiguity of meaningful public participation, ineffective participatory approaches and overburden of public participation in environmental impact assessment are the causes of ineffective public participation in PIMs.Research limitations/implicationsPublic participation has become an essential part in PIMs management. This study looks at the understanding of the relationship between public participation and the success of PIMs.Practical implicationsLegislative bodies should perfect the laws to guarantee meaningful public participation. Lead agencies should adopt additional effective participatory approaches to solicit public comments and identify critical voices. A dispute solution mechanism is necessary to solve public participation disputes in PIMs in practice.Originality/valueStakeholder and uncertainty management are important to the success of PIMs. This study reveals methods to improve the effectiveness of public participation to alleviate the conflicts among stakeholders and reduce uncertainty in PIMs.

Probabilistic performance‐based optimum design of seismic isolation for a California high‐speed rail prototype bridge

SummaryPrevious comparison studies on seismic isolation have demonstrated its beneficial and detrimental effects on the structural performance of high‐speed rail bridges during earthquakes. Striking a balance between these 2 competing effects requires proper tuning of the controlling design parameters in the design of the seismic isolation system. This results in a challenging problem for practical design in performance‐based engineering, particularly when the uncertainty in seismic loading needs to be explicitly accounted for. This problem can be tackled using a novel probabilistic performance‐based optimum seismic design (PPBOSD) framework, which has been previously proposed as an extension of the performance‐based earthquake engineering methodology. For this purpose, a parametric probabilistic demand hazard analysis is performed over a grid in the seismic isolator parameter space, using high‐throughput cloud‐computing resources, for a California high‐speed rail (CHSR) prototype bridge. The derived probabilistic structural demand hazard results conditional on a seismic hazard level and unconditional, i.e., accounting for all seismic hazard levels, are used to define 2 families of risk features, respectively. Various risk features are explored as functions of the key isolator parameters and are used to construct probabilistic objective and constraint functions in defining well‐posed optimization problems. These optimization problems are solved using a grid‐based, brute‐force approach as an application of the PPBOSD framework, seeking optimum seismic isolator parameters for the CHSR prototype bridge. This research shows the promising use of seismic isolation for CHSR bridges, as well as the potential of the versatile PPBOSD framework in solving probabilistic performance‐based real‐world design problems.

A gravity model integrating high-speed rail and seismic-hazard mitigation through land-use planning: Application to California development

California high-speed rail (CalHSR) will be changing the current regional and urban structure because of the improved transportation mobility and accessibility. It has been a focus of interest to see whether high-speed rail will enhance the polarization of first-tier station cities or reduce the gap between those and lower-tier cities. In California, the two largest cities (i.e., San Francisco and Los Angeles) are under great seismic threat. Planners should be able to assess CalHSR impacts and the resulting seismic risks because of disproportionally allocating future growth to seismic hazardous locations. Urban models can help develop knowledge about urban and regional system behavior, since CalHSR does not yet exist. A gravity model, TELUM, is therefore used to understand the effects of CalHSR and seismic hazard mitigation on the allocation of future development over six 5-year increments from 2015 to 2040. Several scenarios are considered: 1) natural growth; 2) impact of CalHSR; 3) impacts of both seismic hazard mitigation and CalHSR. The first scenario shows that TELUM tends to result in spatial polarization. Under the second scenario, CalHSR enhances the polarization of San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Fresno metropolitan areas, due to their economic strength. The third scenario is to examine whether CalHSR effects increase seismic risks. The results show that a seismic mitigation plan with zero-development policy can improve urban resilience. From the perspective at the regional level, possible seismic mitigation approaches are discussed, through land-use and transportation planning, to guide future growth to more seismic-resistant locations.

Effects of seismic isolation on the seismic response of a California high‐speed rail prototype bridge with soil‐structure and track‐structure interactions

SummaryWith the launch of the high‐speed train project in California, the seismic risk is a crucial concern to the stakeholders. To investigate the seismic behavior of future California High‐Speed Rail (CHSR) bridge structures, a 3D nonlinear finite‐element model of a CHSR prototype bridge is developed. Soil‐structure and track‐structure interactions are accounted for in this comprehensive numerical model used to simulate the seismic response of the bridge and track system. This paper focuses on examining potential benefits and possible drawbacks of the a priori promising application of seismic isolation in CHSR bridges. Nonlinear time history analyses are performed for this prototype bridge subjected to two bidirectional horizontal historical earthquake ground motions each scaled to two different seismic hazard levels. The effect of seismic isolation on the seismic performance of the bridge is investigated through a detailed comparison of the seismic response of the bridge with and without seismic isolation. It is found that seismic isolation significantly reduces the deck acceleration and the force demand in the bridge substructure (i.e., piers and foundations), especially for high‐intensity earthquakes. However, seismic isolation increases the deck displacement (relative to the pile cap) and the stresses in the rails. These findings imply that seismic isolation can be promisingly applied to CHSR bridges with due consideration of balancing its beneficial and detrimental effects through using appropriate isolators design. The optimum seismic isolator properties can be sought by solving a performance‐based optimum seismic design problem using the nonlinear finite‐element model presented herein. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Time-varying land subsidence detected by radar altimetry: California, Taiwan and north China.

Contemporary applications of radar altimetry include sea-level rise, ocean circulation, marine gravity, and icesheet elevation change. Unlike InSAR and GNSS, which are widely used to map surface deformation, altimetry is neither reliant on highly temporally-correlated ground features nor as limited by the available spatial coverage, and can provide long-term temporal subsidence monitoring capability. Here we use multi-mission radar altimetry with an approximately 23 year data-span to quantify land subsidence in cropland areas. Subsidence rates from TOPEX/POSEIDON, JASON-1, ENVISAT, and JASON-2 during 1992–2015 show time-varying trends with respect to displacement over time in California’s San Joaquin Valley and central Taiwan, possibly related to changes in land use, climatic conditions (drought) and regulatory measures affecting groundwater use. Near Hanford, California, subsidence rates reach 18 cm yr−1 with a cumulative subsidence of 206 cm, which potentially could adversely affect operations of the planned California High-Speed Rail. The maximum subsidence rate in central Taiwan is 8 cm yr−1. Radar altimetry also reveals time-varying subsidence in the North China Plain consistent with the declines of groundwater storage and existing water infrastructure detected by the Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellites, with rates reaching 20 cm yr−1 and cumulative subsidence as much as 155 cm.

A Health Impact Assessment of the California High-Speed Rail

A Health Impact Assessment of the California High-Speed Rail

Challenges and Opportunities in Implementation of Future California Rail Network

The California High-Speed Rail Authority adopted a blended system at the northern and southern terminuses of the planned first phase of its high-speed rail line. In this blended operation, the high-speed rail line share track and other infrastructure with commuter, intercity, and freight rail. However, the lack of common infrastructure between rail modes and the financial and organizational challenges associated with building that common infrastructure and capacity allocation in California present challenges for the implementation of high-speed rail by a blended system in the state. This paper reviews the blended system and discusses the level of cooperation and coordination necessary between host railroads–agencies and the operator of the high-speed rail tenant. Sharing track comes with challenges for all participating railroad operators and often requires coordination between heterogeneous rail traffic. However, costs can be reduced when compared with those for dedicated track. How blended service is performed will affect state and local agencies, railroad owners and operators, and customers across the California rail network.

Cost-effectiveness of reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from High-Speed Rail and urban transportation projects in California

A rising trend in state and federal transportation finance is to invest capital dollars into projects which reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. However, a key metric for comparing projects, the cost-effectiveness of GHG emissions reductions, is highly dependent on the cost-benefit methodology employed in the analysis. Our analysis comparing California High-Speed Rail and three urban transportation projects shows how four different accounting framings bring wide variations in cost per metric tonne of GHG emissions reduced. In our analysis, life-cycle GHG emissions are joined with full cost accounting to better understand the benefits of cap-and-trade investments. Considering only public subsidy for capital, none of the projects appear to be a cost-effective means to reduce GHG emissions (i.e., relative to the current price of GHG emissions in California’s cap-and-trade program at $12.21 per tonne). However, after adjusting for the change in private costs users incur when switching from the counterfactual mode (automobile or aircraft) to the mode enabled by the project, all investments appear to reduce GHG emissions at a net savings to the public. Policy and decision-makers who consider only the capital cost of new transportation projects can be expected to incorrectly assess alternatives and indirect benefits (i.e., how travelers adapt to the new mass transit alternative) should be included in decision-making processes.

Framework for Post-Earthquake Risk Assessment and Decision Making for Infrastructure Systems

AbstractThe Bayesian network (BN) and influence diagram (ID) are used to develop a framework for post-earthquake risk assessment and decision making for infrastructure systems. The BN is used to model the earthquake hazard and component and system performance, and to update these models probabilistically in light of information gained from ground motion or structural health-monitoring sensors, or from observation of system or component states. The BN is extended by addition of decision and utility nodes to construct an ID, which is used for post-earthquake decision making regarding the type of inspection to perform or for setting the operational levels of components. A value-of-information heuristic is proposed to determine the optimal temporal sequence of component inspections. The methodology is demonstrated by its application to a hypothetical model of a segment of the proposed California high-speed rail system. Although the focus in this paper is on the earthquake hazard, the methodology can be used f...

New Rail Hubs along High-Speed Rail Corridor in California

High-speed rail (HSR) will link California's first-tier cities to one another and to second-tier cities; this innovation may increase both mobility and accessibility in an unprecedented way. The system is also expected to have important physical impacts on station-adjacent neighborhoods and station cities, but to date, limited research exists to guide public policy efforts directing development around HSR stations. The urban design variables that may influence urban change in the context of HSR remain largely understudied. A state agency, the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CaHSRA), is charged with designing and managing the implementation of the HSR network, while local station cities will be responsible for development around their stations. Although CaHSRA has issued general urban design guidelines for cities, more urban design guidance is necessary to address the specificities of local contexts. Most Southern California cities have not yet started station-area planning, and the few that have are focusing attention on their stations as isolated entities in the system and city. In this limited focus, the cities often ignore the possible complement that adjacent stations on the HSR corridor may provide and how the station may integrate into the city and region. A review and a content analysis of documents and guidelines issued by the CaHSRA and its consultants to guide design in station areas were conducted and 16 planners, urban designers, and public officials in Southern California's Phase One station cities were interviewed extensively. The challenges of urban design in HSR station areas are discussed, and policy recommendations are offered.

Estimating Workforce Needs for High-Speed Rail in California and the United States

This study assesses the overall impact of job creation associated with the anticipated construction of a high-speed rail (HSR) network in the United States, particularly in California, which was scheduled to begin construction as early as September 2012. Using variations of a bottom-up construction estimation technique, the study provides estimates of the quantity and type of workers needed during the design, construction, and operation of high-speed rail infrastructure, as well as education and training needs and level of this forecasted workforce. Given the high profile of state and national commitment to HSR initiatives, as well as its potential opportunity to generate employment, a comprehensive analysis that discusses the education, training, and attendant needs produced during the creation of HSR networks is timely. By using a refined bottom-up approach to estimate labor, education, and training needs required for the California HSR network, and with general application of this model across assessment of other corridors, this report seeks to identify the magnitude of workforce development challenges that lie ahead in the implementation of national HSR systems.

Parsimonious Modeling and Uncertainty Quantification for Transportation Systems Planning Applied to California High-Speed Rail

This paper presents a parsimonious travel demand model (PTDM) derived from a proprietary parent travel demand model developed by Cambridge Systematics (CS) for the California high-speed rail system. The purpose of the PTDM is to reduce computational expense for model simulations, optimization and sensitivity analyses, and other repetitive analyses. The PTDM is used to quantify the significance of parameter uncertainties with the use of mean value first-order second moment methods for uncertainty quantification and sensitivity analysis. The PTDM changes the model resolution of the parent travel demand model from a traffic analysis zone to a county-level analysis. The three-step model contains trip frequency, destination choice, and main mode choice models and is calibrated to match the results of the CS model. The main mode choice model predicts primary mode choice results for car, commercial air, conventional rail, and high-speed rail. The PTDM uses data and models similar to parent models to show how uncertainty in travel demand model predictions can be quantified. This paper does not attempt to assess the reliability of parent model forecasts, and the results should not be used to evaluate uncertainty in the California High-Speed Rail Authority's rider ship and revenue forecasts. However, the uncertainty quantification methodology presented here, when applied to the CS model, can be used to quantify the impact of parameter uncertainty on the forecast results.

High-Speed Rail Project Development Processes in the United States and China

Amid increasing global economic competition, both the United States and China are investing in high-speed rail (HSR) as a national strategy to enhance their competitiveness. China is rapidly advancing by laying down HSR tracks, while the United States is deliberating the environmental, social, and economic implications of HSR development before embarking on actual construction. With the California High-Speed Rail Project and the Beijing–Shanghai Express Railway Project as case studies, this paper juxtaposes the HSR development processes concerning investment decisions, planning, and implementation in the United States and China and draws lessons informative to strategic infrastructure investments in both countries.