The Full Cost of Intercity Transportation: A Comparison of High Speed Rail, Air, and Highway Transportation in California

00736817019240951996PDFTech ReportUCB-ITS-RR-96-3Intercity transportationMultimodal transportationUrban transportationPollution controlAir qualityUrban trafficEnvironmentCaliforniaUnited StatesUniversity of California, Berkeley. Institute of Transportation StudiesLevinson, DavidGillen, DavidKanafani, AdibMathieu, Jean-MichelUniversity of California, Berkeley. Institute of Transportation StudiesUS Transportation CollectionThis study evaluated the full cost of three modes of intercity transportation: air, highway, and high speed rail. The evaluation is done within the context of the California Corridor, connecting the Los Angeles Basin and the San Francisco Bay Area. The purpose of evaluating full cost is to compare the economic implications of investment in, or expansion of, any of these three modes. The scope of the analysis is full transportation cost. Full transportation cost includes external, or social cost, in addition to the internal costs of construction, operation and maintenance. Estimates of four types of external, social costs are included: accidents, congestion, noise, and air pollution. The results of this study indicate that the full cost of air transportation for the California Corridor ($0.1315 per passenger-kilometer traveled) is significantly less costly than the other two modes. The full cost of high speed rail and highway transportation are approximately the same: $0.2350 per passenger-kilometer traveled by rail and $0.2302 per passenger-kilometer traveled by highway.85