Testimony on “The Federal Railroad Administration’s High Speed and Intercity Passenger Rail Program: Mistakes and Lessons Learned”

Geddes: 12/6/12 Testimony on High Speed Rail

Download PDF

High-speed passenger rail (HSR) is a commendable public policy objective that can provide valuable public benefits. I strongly support HSR in the United States for those lines and routes where it makes sense. In this testimony, I justify that view by addressing some fundamental economic issues regarding HSR in the United States, as well as the use of private investment in passenger rail through public-private partnerships, or PPPs. This is important because, in my view, the most recent attempts to fund HSR in the United States did not include adequate provisions to attract and retain the private investment that is critical to conserving scarce public resources.

 

Also Visit
AEIdeas Blog The American Magazine
About the Author

 

R. Richard
Geddes
  • Rick Geddes is associate professor in the Department of Policy Analysis and Management at Cornell University. His research fields include private infrastructure investment through public-private partnerships, postal service policy, corporate governance, women's property rights, and antitrust policy. He is a Research Associate at the Mineta Transportation Institute, and a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. He was a Fulbright Senior Scholar at Australian National University in Canberra in the fall of 2009, and a Visiting Researcher at the Australian Government's Productivity Commission in the spring of 2010. His research focused on Australian public-private partnerships in both positions. Geddes teaches courses at Cornell on corporate governance and the regulation of industry.

    In addition to his teaching and research at Cornell, Geddes served as a commissioner on the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission, which submitted its report to Congress in January 2008. He has held positions as a senior staff economist on the President's Council of Economic Advisers, Visiting Faculty Fellow at Yale Law School, and National Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.

    In 2008, Geddes received the Kappa Omicron Nu/Human Ecology Alumni Association Student Advising Award. His published work has appeared in the American Economic Review, the Journal of Regulatory Economics, the Encyclopedia of Law and Economics, the Journal of Legal Studies, the Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, the Journal of Law and Economics, the Journal of Law, Economics, and Policy, and Managerial and Decision Economics, among others.

  • Email: rrg24@cornell.edu
  • Assistant Info

    Name: Brad Wassink
    Phone: 202-862-7197
    Email: brad.wassink@aei.org

What's new on AEI

image A farm bill bait and switch
image Corker-Warner bill retains fatal flaw of GSE model
image Gas engine stands the test of time
image Women and the unequal pay myth
AEI on Facebook
Events Calendar
  • 17
    MON
  • 18
    TUE
  • 19
    WED
  • 20
    THU
  • 21
    FRI
Monday, June 17, 2013 | 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Brainwashed: The use and misuse of neuroscience

Join New York Times columnist David Brooks as he engages the authors of “Brainwashed: The Seductive Appeal of Mindless Neuroscience” Sally Satel and Scott Lilienfeld, in a discussion of popular neuroscience.

Tuesday, June 18, 2013 | 9:00 a.m. – 10:15 a.m.
The next digital crossroads: Regulating competition in the Internet ecosystem

Please join us for a preview of the revised and updated edition of Jonathan Nuechterlein and Philip Weiser’s influential 2005 book “Digital Crossroads: Telecommunications Law and Policy in the Internet Age” (MIT Press).

Event Registration is Closed
Tuesday, June 18, 2013 | 5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Economic liberty and human flourishing: Perspectives from political philosophy

At this event, three expert panelists will examine this relationship from the perspectives of influential philosophers such as Aristotle, Alexis de Tocqueville, and representatives of the Scottish Enlightenment.

Event Registration is Closed
Wednesday, June 19, 2013 | 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Neighborhood watch: A time to lead in the Americas

This event has been canceled. We apologize for any inconvenience. 

Event has been Canceled
Wednesday, June 19, 2013 | 12:30 p.m. – 1:45 p.m.
Is college worth it?

At this event, Bennett and Wilezol will present their book, higher education finance experts Richard George and Richard Vedder will provide discussion, and a coffee reception and book signing will follow.

Wednesday, June 19, 2013 | 3:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Is Big Brother watching you?

Join General Michael Hayden (ret.), AEI’s Marc Thiessen, and other leading experts in national security for a panel discussion on the significance of the NSA leaks.

Thursday, June 20, 2013 | 1:00 p.m. – 2:15 p.m.
Balance: The economics of great powers from ancient Rome to modern America

Please join us for an event celebrating the release of Glenn Hubbard and Tim Kane’s “Balance: The Economics of Great Powers from Ancient Rome to Modern America” (Simon & Schuster, May 2013).

Friday, June 21, 2013 | 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Washington's ongoing assault on free speech: An address by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell

In light of the emerging Internal Revenue Service scandal, Senator McConnell will again join AEI to comment on the use of government power to stifle speech and will propose solutions that protect the individual rights that are guaranteed to all citizens of the United States.  

No events scheduled this day.
No events scheduled this day.
No events scheduled this day.