Revitalizing the Economy with High Speed Trains

To: President Biden and Governor Cuomo
From: High Speed Train – Alex Zhang, Andi Chen, Sonam Lhamo
Subject: Adding high speed trains to New York
Date: March 29, 2021

Summary:
The current state of the NYC metro is less than ideal. Other modernized cities have efficient rail systems that consist of high speed trains. It is time for NYC to consider modernizing an essential part of city life and in the process gain benefits to the environment and economy.

Discussion:
The MTA in New York City is one of the most used methods to traverse the city. There is an annual ridership of around 1,700,000,000 making the MTA the most used transport for New Yorkers. 56% of all New Yorkers use public transit making it the highest of any city.

The effect of heavy reliance on public transit in NYC results in one of the most energy efficient cities. New York City saves 37 million metric tons of carbon dioxide annually which amounts to 4.9 million household emissions. Public transport also saved 1.3 billion gallons of oil in New
York State. Research has found that people that use public transport also have a healthier BMI (body mass index). It was also found that using public transit saves around ten thousand dollars. The MTA is a principal part of the city. It props up New York’s economy which makes up 8 percent of the nation’s GDP (1.8 trillion). Although the MTA is an economical pillar, it is heavily underfunded with old infrastructure from World War Two. Some parts in the infrastructure have to be personally made due to the parent company not producing the part anymore. The MTA is now in danger of economic collapse due to ridership falling because of Covid-19. This might seem to be a problem, however, it is also an opportunity to quickly modernize the system while ridership is a historic low. The MTA cannot be the only source of mass public transit in New York. Public transit is in the center when it comes to economic revival and the epidemic is not any different.

Recommendation:
High speed railway systems are seen almost all over the world. Many countries are including this
system into their daily life because of all of its benefits. Statistics show that “Every $1 billion in
investment creates 24,000 jobs” (APTA), which benefits the city in the long run as the pandemic
destroyed many jobs. In Japan, “The average delay for a Shinkansen train is around 20 seconds; for
other trains operated by the Japan Railways group of companies, it is approximately 50 seconds. In
both cases, the average delay is less than a minute.” (Japan Policy). On the other hand, data shows
that the MTA delays result in 864,000 dollars lost per day. This is because of an average of
35,000 hours lost per weekday, a number that is continuing to grow due to old infrastructure.
Replacing old trains and aging rails reduces delays and gives riders more reason to rely on public
transit. Which will attract new riders who use cars in fear of being late.
High speed rails in Europe and Asia are hailed as carbon killers. The United Kingdom’s HS2
(High Speed 2) produces only 8kg of carbon per person compared to the 67kg by car and 160kg
by plane. In Spain and France, state owned railways saved one million tonnes of carbon
emission. However, none of them can be compared to Japan’s JR Central, which uses 88 percent
less energy and 92 percent less carbon emission than a plane while still being competitive in time
and pricing. To one day compete with Japan’s high speed train models we should start with
NYC, because although it may be the one of the states with the lowest level of carbon emission
the transportation sector in New York is its’ largest carbon dioxide contributor. Eliminating as
much of this biggest contributor would help assist in convenience to the world’s current big issue
which is global warming.
President Biden plans to create an Amtrak line from Boston to NYC reducing the travel time by
100 minutes. This plan would not only benefit people from Boston and New York, but low
income workers from Chelsea. If this was implemented throughout New York, economic revival
is possible for small towns and forgotten cities. People from all over the state are now able to
travel quickly to work even if it’s across the state. New York being the economic capital will
only prosper because of this arrangement.
Fixing the MTA means going further than providing a federal bailout. It means redefining inner
and inter city transit. New York City should be the vanguard of this movement by implementing
high speed trains.

Reference：
News/Popular media source:

The impact of train delays on people’s life

Fox, Alison, et al. “Subway Riders Give Firsthand Accounts of MTA Issues’ Impact on
Daily Life.” AmNewYork, www.amny.com/transit/nyc-subway-delays-1-21683620/.
The crisis of MTA and their response to the COVID19

Goldbaum, Christina. “41 Transit Workers Dead: Crisis Takes Staggering Toll on
Subways.” The New York Times, 8 Apr. 2020,
www.nytimes.com/2020/04/08/nyregion/coronavirus-nyc-mta-subway.html?searchResult
Position=1.
The high speed rail project between boston and New York

Henderson, Clint. “Bullet Trains in America? The New Push for Major High-Speed Rail
Project between Boston and New York.” The Points Guy,
thepointsguy.com/news/bullet-trains-america/.

Scholarly Sources:

Turner, Julian. “Is High-Speed Rail the Fast Track to Transport Decarbonisation?”
Railway Technology, 24 Mar. 2021,
www.railway-technology.com/features/high-speed-rail-sustainability/.

APTAAdmin. “Benefits of High-Speed rail for the United States.” American Public
Transportation Association, https://bit.ly/3f39Y1M
Compare the high speed trains between different nations and few benefits

“Is High-Speed Rail the Fast Track to Transport Sustainability?”
www.railway-Technology.com,
www.railway-technology.com/features/high-speed-rail-sustainability/.
Is High-Speed Train Travel Worth the Investment?

“Is High-Speed Train Travel Worth the Investment?” www.triplepundit.com,
www.triplepundit.com/story/2016/high-speed-train-travel-worth-investment/23761.

“THE SYSTEM behind JAPAN’S HIGH-SPEED RAIL NETWORK | Discuss Japan –
Japan Foreign Policy Forum.” www.japanpolicyforum.jp,
www.japanpolicyforum.jp/discussions/pt20100930163209.html
https://academiccommons.columbia.edu/doi/10.7916/D8ZC89JF/download – Thesis on
public transport (can’t turn into mla because it is a pdf file)