Case Study in Attempting to Establish High Speed Rail: Florida’s Experience
Credits: 1 PDH
PDH Course Description:
This PDH engineering online course discusses the problematic relationship between speed and financing for high speed passenger rail projects. On the one hand, to have any hope of financial viability a rail line must be sufficiently fast to attract passengers
who would otherwise fly or drive. On the other hand, the higher the speed, the more expensive the line is to build and operate. Thus passenger fares must be set high, which hurts ridership. In this course, the experience of the State of Florida between
1981 and 2011 is used as an example.
During this time period, Florida and private corporations, sometimes jointly, sometimes alone, made four different attempts to implement rail lines between Miami, Orlando, and Tampa, on which trains would run at speeds between 150 and 220 miles per hour.
Yet, in the immediate future, the only new passenger line that is likely to begin operations between these cities is not very high speed and will not run on dedicated track.
This course describes how both actual and perceived speed are related to obtaining financing and the implications of this relationship not only to potential high speed rail projects in Florida but also in Texas and California, where such projects are
also being considered.
Topics:
- Political context for high-speed rail in Florida
- Major actors in the rail development process
- Florida high-speed ground transportation act of 1984
- Financing through real estate development
- Financing with debt
To take this course:
1.) Enroll in Course: Click below to enroll:
(must be logged into your user account)
Download the Study Guide
3.) Test: Once you've thoroughly read the course materials, please click below to take the final examination.
Take the final exam
4.) Certificate: A passing grade of 70% or higher on the exam, is required to receive the certificate of completion for this PDH course.
NOTE: After the exam is completed, you will need to return to this page, in order to print (download) the certificate of completion.
Print the Certificate of Completion
Intended Audience: This course is intended for civil and transportation engineers concerned with the implementation of very high-speed rail systems.
Publication Source: This course is based on the University Transportation Research Center of The City University of New York document, “A Case Study Of High Speed Rail In Florida: Implications For Financing Passenger Railways,” written by James Cohen, February 29, 2016, as part of UTRC/RF Grant No: 49997-19-25.
Print the Certificate of Completion
Intended Audience: This course is intended for civil and transportation engineers concerned with the implementation of very high-speed rail systems.
Publication Source: This course is based on the University Transportation Research Center of The City University of New York document, “A Case Study Of High Speed Rail In Florida: Implications For Financing Passenger Railways,” written by James Cohen, February 29, 2016, as part of UTRC/RF Grant No: 49997-19-25.
Mark Rossow PhD, PE (retired)