Which comes first: a great transit system or a great city that can support it? What role does high-speed rail play in an overall, effective transportation system? And is an incremental approach really possible with high-speed transit?
These are important questions with potentially complex answers. For insight we turned to Rick Harnish. He’s executive director of the High Speed Rail Alliance, the nation’s largest high-speed rail advocacy organization. The organization’s goal is to make high-speed trains “fast, frequent, and affordable.” Harnish cofounded the Alliance in 1993 (he’s also a Strong Towns member), and we’re pleased to welcome him as our guest this week on the Strong Towns Podcast.
In this episode, Harnish and Strong Towns president Chuck Marohn talk about how much of the transit that gets built is based on what places need versus what they can get funding for. They discuss the problem of thinking about transit as a “charitable overlay” to an auto-oriented system, and whether we can afford to fund high-speed transit while also funding new car infrastructure. They also talk about what the U.S and Canada should—and shouldn’t—learn about high-speed rail from countries like France, Japan, and China.
Additional Show NotesHigh Speed Rail Alliance
High Speed Rail Alliance (Twitter)
Charles Marohn (Twitter)
Confessions of an Engineer
Check out more Strong Towns content on public transit in the Action Lab
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From Boring to Brilliant: Making Municipal Finance Fun With Michel Durand-Wood
Build the Damn Train: How To Bring High-Speed Rail to the United States
The Traffic Enforcement Futility Loop
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Oh Crap! Dealing With Sewer Upgrades Is a Complicated Mess
The Truth About the Suburban Experiment: A Response to “Contra Strong Towns”
How To Escape the Housing Trap: A Special Q&A Session
Member Drive Week Special: Most Public Engagement Is Worthless
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Member Drive Week Special: How Fannie Mae Puts a Chokehold on Local Home Financing Solutions
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Member Drive Week Special: The Cost of an Extra Foot
Megan Kimble: The Toll Urban Highways Take and the People Fighting Back
How to Escape Housing (and Baseball Stadium) Traps, Plus a Little Disney Urbanism.
The Strong Towns Tension With YIMBYism
Alex Alsup: How Much of the U.S.'s Housing Stock Is Locally Owned?
Where Strong Towns Stands As We Enter Another Election Year
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