The Northeast Corridor: Challenges and Opportunities for the Region s Future Mitch Warren, Executive Director, Northeast Corridor Commission High-Performance Corridors Accelerating Rail in the US APTA Rail Conference, Dallas, June 5, 2012
Table of Contents of the Northeast Region and Corridor 2
Northeast Megaregion: Population Center 1 out of every 6 Americans 4 out of the 10 most populous metros in US 19,000,000 Metro Residents 1,000,000 Metro Residents 3
Northeast Megaregion: Economic Center 1 out of every 3 Fortune 100 companies $1 out of every $5 in GDP 16 Fortune 100 Companies 1 Fortune 100 Company 4
Northeast Megaregion: Density 17% of US population 20% of US GDP 2% of the nation s land area 5
Benefits of Density 6
Challenges of Density 7
A Transportation System at Capacity BAL #6 WAS #1 BOS #9 NYC #5 4 out of 10 US metros with most hours lost in traffic per auto commuter in 2010 The Northeast lost over $22B in 2010 due to automobile congestion 8
A Transportation System at Capacity EWR #1 BOS #4 LGA #3 JFK #5 PHL #7 7 out of the 10 worst airports in the US for on-time arrivals in 2011 New York and Philadelphia airports create half of the nation s flight delays IAD #10 DCA #8 9
NEC Spine New Haven Boston Providence Newark New York Philadelphia Wilmington Baltimore Washington 457-mile corridor 363 Amtrak-owned miles; rest MA, CT, and NY 2,200 daily passenger trains 750,000 daily passengers 70 daily freight trains 10
NEC Connecting Corridors Albany Hartford/ Springfield Harrisburg 413-mile total length of connecting corridors 226 daily commuter and intercity trains 3.3M annual intercity passengers Richmond 11
NEC Branches Adirondack Vermonter Maple Leaf Empire Service Lake Shore Limited Ethan Allen Express Downeaster Pennsylvanian Capitol Limited 16 additional services in the megaregion Over 2M additional annual passengers Cardinal Crescent Carolinian Silver Star Silver Meteor Autotrain Palmetto 12
Commuter Rail Services 2,100+ daily commuter trains on the NEC Spine (93% of total) 2.6B annual commuter passenger-miles on the NEC Spine (53% of total) Shore Line East Metro-North Long Island Rail Road 13
Turn-of-the-(Previous)-Century Assets Connecticut River Bridge 1907 $225M replacement Susquehanna River Bridge (MD) 1906 $850M replacement Portal Bridge (NJ) 1906 $1.5B replacement Niantic River Bridge (CT) 1907 $100M replacement Pelham Bay Bridge (NY) 1907 $250M replacement B&P Tunnel (MD) 1873 $1.5B replacement 14
NEC Baseline Needs 2030 Operator Estimates Daily Trains + 45% Intercity & Commuter Riders + 60% 2030 Investment Needs SGR Backlog $7.9B SGR Replace $9.1B Core Growth $34.9B Total $51.9B 15
Unprepared for 21st Century Demand Areas where the NEC would be beyond100% capacity in 2030 without Master Plan improvements Many of these areas at 100% capacity now Even with Master Plan improvements, there is no room for growth beyond 2030 16
A Dense and Growing Megaregion People/Sq. Mile 867 1,000 1,172 Northeast Megaregion 20 people 2010 2030 2050 United States 70.8M 49.6M 52.3M 2000 2010 2050 Census Census America 2050 17
8 states and the District of Columbia 4 members 5 members Non-voting representatives: 4 freight railroads 5 connecting states 1 commuter agency 18
NEC Commission Objectives The Commission was authorized by Congress and established by Secretary LaHood to: Convene key NEC stakeholders Establish consensus on a unified, long-term vision for the Corridor Recommend near-term infrastructure improvement needs Develop a cost allocation formula Report on the role of the NEC in the economic development of the region 19
NEC Commission Committees Corridor Planning Infrastructure and Operations Cost Allocation Freight Communications and Outreach 20
Planning Context: NEC Future Program FRA-Led Passenger Rail Corridor Investment Plan (PRCIP) Tier 1 Corridor-Level Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) Service Development Plan (SDP) Phase One (funded), February 2012 - February 2013, includes data collection, scoping, and alternatives development Phases Two and Three (unfunded), include alternatives analysis, draft and final EIS, and final SDP 21
Planning Context: Amtrak NextGen Newark Hartford New York Philadelphia Wilmington Baltimore Washington Boston Providence Dedicated two-track alignment Top speeds of 220 mph NYC-WAS 1.5 hours NYC-BOS 1.5 hours Capacity of 12 departures/hour in each direction 22
International HSR Comparisons Washington Baltimore Philadelphia New York New Haven Hartford Providence Boston Paris Lyon Montpelier Marseille Tokyo Shizuoka Aichi Osaka Okayama Hiroshima Yamaguchi Fukuoka 19M Metro Residents 1M Metro Residents 0 (miles) 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 23
Rail Investments in a US Context: Acela Acela Service Premium service introduced in 2000 NYC-WAS Travel time reduced from 3:00 to 2:45 NYC-BOS Travel time reduced from 4:30 to 3:35 NEC intercity ridership rose from 8.3M to 10.9M from 2000 to 2011 NYC WAS 2000 2011 Rail 37% Rail 75% Air 63% Air 25% NYC BOS 2000 2011 Rail 20% Rail 54% Air 80% Air 46% 24
Moving Forward Increasing metropolitan populations Congested transportation system Underinvestment in infrastructure How will we grow? 25