February 26, 2003

Congressmen & Transportation Experts Express Strong Support
For Expanding Use Of High-Speed Rail to Reduce Airport Congestion & Improve Commercial Air Service

Washington, D.C. - Members of two Congressional Subcommittees and transportation experts today expressed strong support for the concept of expanding the use of high-speed rail transportation as a means to reduce airport congestion and improve commercial airline service.

The testimony came during a joint Congressional hearing by the U.S. House Subcommittee on Aviation and the Subcommittee on Railroads.

"Intermodal high-speed rail connections must be part of the solution to relieve future aviation congestion," said U.S. Rep. John Mica (R-FL), the Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Aviation. "At some airports like JFK, Newark, LaGuardia, and Reagan National, it is impossible to expand runways. Even where runways at our major airports can be added, their multi-billion dollar price tag and development costs make connecting transit for short-haul distances an attractive alternative.

"It is time for Congress to think outside of the box.

"That's why I believe consideration of an elevated MagLev high-speed line not only frees up the Northeast corridor for commuter and freight service, but would also provide a cost effective solution to our future aviation congestion problems," Mica said.

"The air-rail link that is the subject of today's hearing is a neglected part of our overall national transportation network," said U.S. Rep. Jack Quinn (R-NV), the Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Railroads. "Although intermodalism is often mentioned as a policy goal, it is seldom carried out in practice. Given the mounting congestion on our roads, the difficulty in building new airport capacity, and the concentration of much of our population in urban centers less than 500 miles apart, we should be doing more to use our rail system to move people quickly and efficiently.

"The State of New York has taken a partial step in this direction on its New York City to Albany Empire Corridor. This is already the highest speed passenger track in the U.S., excluding the Northeast Corridor. Today's witnesses highlight the potential for an even higher-speed link between Stewart International Airport and New York City.

"Railroads are an easy and seamless link to our nation's airports. The implementation of air-rail links will benefit both the airlines and travelers," Quinn said.

Background Information On High-Speed Rail Links

Proponents believe that high-speed trains are viable alternatives to airplanes in certain short haul markets. There are six corridors (Boston-New York, NY-Washington, San Francisco- Los Angeles, Los Angeles-San Diego, Los Angeles-Phoenix, and Seattle-Portland) in the United States where airlines fly 50 or more round trip flights daily. There are another 15 corridors where there are more than 15 round trip flights a day. Travel demand within these corridors may be strong enough to support high-speed rail service. Fast, reliable, and convenient high-speed train service will encourage travelers to get out of their cars and off the airlines. Reducing the demand for high-frequency, short-haul flights will improve airport congestion and would allow scarce airport capacity to be used for more efficient long haul flights.

Airports Can Be Transformed Into "Travel Ports"

Hank Dittmar, the co-director of Reconnecting America, a project working on national policies on intercity travel and transportation integration, testified about the concept of transforming airports into "travel ports".

"It is a simple concept of connecting our current means of traveling region to region - the air-rail-bus networks - so that each travel mode provides the type of service that it is designed to do best," Dittmar said. "The idea is to turn airport terminals into travel ports where rail, bus, and urban transit would be added to the traditional mix of aviation, parking and rental cars.

"By making selected improvements to provide more reliable service options via other modes of travel for short and medium-distance passengers, airport capacity will be freed for the higher-value, longer air trips.

"This kind of system is also more redundant, in the positive sense that travelers are presented with more options when regular service in a single mode is interrupted. A more redundant system is also an investment in economic security to ensure continued movement in the face of natural or man-made disasters," Dittmar said.

High-Speed Rail Requires Less Land Than Highways

R.E.G. (Ron) Davies, a transportation historian and economist, told the Subcommittees about the benefits of an expanded high-speed rail system.

"One high-speed, double track occupies only one-tenth of the land needed for a divided highway and the trains can carry 10 times the number of people," Davies said.

New York's Steward Airport Proposal Could Ease Congestion
At Other Metropolitan Area Airports

Chuck Seliga, the Managing Director of Steward International Airport in New York, told the Subcommittees about the numerous benefits of a proposal to link Steward Airport by rail to the New York City metropolitan area where the three major airports - JFK, LaGuardia and Newark - are already experiencing heavy use.

"The benefits of this multi-user link extend far beyond airline passengers, providing tangible and region-wide public benefits," Seliga said, including improving travel times for air travelers in the region; reducing automobile travel and traffic congestion; and relieving air traffic at the surrounding airports.

Air Travel Has Increased 123 Percent Since 1980

Since airline deregulation in 1978, air travel has become an essential form of travel for much of the nation. The annual number of commercial air travelers grew to 696.3 million in 2000, a 123 percent increase from the number of travelers in 1980.

FAA's Airport Capacity Benchmarks Report 2001 indicates that many of our nation's busiest airports were at or above capacity for at least some portion of the day in 2000. According to this report, 27 major airports in the U.S. were considered seriously congested. FAA forecasts that number to grow to 31 by 2007.

According to the Commission on the Future of the U.S. Aerospace Industry, estimates of the cost of aviation delays to the U.S. economy range from $9 billion in 2000 to over $30 billion annually by 2015. Without improvement, the combined economic cost of delays over the period 2000-2012 will total an estimated $170 billion.

For additional information, access the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee website at:

www.house.gov/transportation

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Steve Hansen
Director of Communications
U.S. House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee
(202) 225-7749