Lecture Series
Event Date

November 04, 2011 at 8:45AM - November 04, 2011 at 10:00AM

Location

Location:  W20-306

Stratton Student Center
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Complimentary lunch served at 12:45

CTL Distinguished Speaker Series Featuring Petra Todorovich

Topic: High-Speed Rail - International Lessons for U.S. Policy Makers

Date: Friday, November 4, 2011

Location: W20-306, Twenty Chimneys
Stratton Student Center
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Time: 12:45 pm – Complimentary lunch
1:00 pm – Lecture begins

--Abstract--

High-speed rail has been adopted throughout the world, and is now being planned and developed in the United States. Over the past 50 years, U.S. transportation spending has heavily favored the development of interstate highway and aviation systems. In the meantime, countries such as China, Japan, Spain, France, and Germany have been investing in modern, high-speed rail systems to satisfy the travel demands of their current and future generations. As the United States embarks on the High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail Program launched in 2009, it can learn from the experiences of other countries in planning, constructing, and operating high-speed rail.

International case studies suggest that high-speed rail could create significant transportation, economic, environmental, and safety benefits in American cities and regions. While it requires high, upfront investment, high-speed rail promotes economic growth by improving access to markets, bringing the cities within megaregions closer together. This boosts the productivity of knowledge workers, expands labor markets, and attracts new tourism and visitor spending. When planned thoughtfully with complementary investments in the public realm, high-speed rail can promote urban regeneration and attract commercial development, as shown in several European examples. High-speed rail also has greater operating energy efficiency than competing modes and takes up less land than highways.

The lecture will describe several funding strategies that have proven to be successful in other countries, and makes specific policy recommendations to better position the federal high-speed rail program for success.

Download the full report (PDF) at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy website http://www.lincolninst.edu/pubs/1948_High-Speed-Rail

Or get your free copy at the lecture!

Petra Todorovich is director of America 2050, a project of Regional Plan Association devoted to developing an infrastructure plan and growth strategy for America in the 21st century. Todorovich oversees America 2050’s research, advocacy, and planning, in partnership with its joint venture partner Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and foundation supporters, the Rockefeller Foundation and Surdna Foundation. She is currently leading a research and advocacy program on high-speed rail in America and is a frequent speaker on the topics of transportation policy, megaregions, and national planning. Todorovich has worked at Regional Plan Association, where America 2050 is based, since 2001.

Prior to the launch of America 2050, Todorovich directed Regional Plan Association's Region's Core program and coordinated the Civic Alliance to Rebuild Downtown New York, a network of organizations that came together shortly after 9/11 to promote the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site and Lower Manhattan. She planned numerous public forums and workshops of the Civic Alliance, including the 2002 "Listening to the City" meetings at the Javits Center that brought over 4,500 people together to consider plans for the World Trade Center site. She authored the 2004 Civic Assessment of the Lower Manhattan Planning Process and other pieces of analysis on the rebuilding process and New York City development.

Todorovich is also an Assistant Visiting Professor at the Pratt Institute Graduate Center for Planning and the Environment and a member of the Board of Advisors of the Eno Transportation Foundation. Todorovich received a B.A. from Vassar College and a Masters in City and Regional Planning from Rutgers University. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

More information on the Speaker Series can be found on the Distinguished Speaker Series webpage.