The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) released this week a new high-performance rail return on investment (ROI) report that provides “a consistent methodology to quantify the economic and social benefits of passenger rail corridor investments.”

APTA released the report at the 2021 APTA-UITP Rail Conference in a session entitled “Advancing High-Performance Rail Corridors: Making the Business Case.” The report is titled “Assessing the Business Case ROI for Intercity Passenger Rail Corridor Investment: Guide for Decision Makers.”

The guide is intended to provide both decision making support and to strengthen public and stakeholder understanding of the full merits of developing high speed and intercity passenger rail projects. APTA says it is also intended to provide a more expansive view of public benefits and associated return on investment, grounded in economic, environmental, and social equity impacts that are relevant to specific stakeholders, particularly at different levels of government.

“America has an opportunity to build a high-performance rail network to position us to overcome our economic challenges and compete in the global marketplace in the coming years,” said APTA President and CEO Paul P. Skoutelas. “Passenger rail is an underutilized mode, and ripe to connect with national and local transportation networks and rural areas with high-performance corridor services. Development of a national network and national rail plan should be guided by federal, state, and regional planning efforts, and coordinated with the various state-supported intercity passenger rail corridors. The Business Case ROI Tool included with this new guide will be vital to calculating a societal return on investment for intercity passenger rail investments as viewed from the perspectives of these stakeholders.”