By: Renee Espiau and Aurash Khawarzad
“Imagine whisking through towns at speeds over 100 miles an hour, walking only a few steps to public transportation, and ending up just blocks from your destination,” was a visionary statement made by President Obama during the April 17th announcement of America’s first national high-speed rail initiative. Obama calls for high-speed rail in 10 regions across the US that will become “a system that reduces travel times and increases mobility, a system that reduces congestion and boosts productivity, a system that reduces destructive emissions and creates jobs.”
What is missing from the President’s statements are the potential of rail to improve our communities, and to contribute to better places. In cities where quality transit exists, rates of car ownership tend to decline, which means less land is required for road space and parking, and more land can be devoted to residential and retail development, which combined with quality public spaces, creates great communities. When thoughtful land use, urban design, and public space management are coordinated with transit investment, transit stops can become corner stones of cultural activity and economic growth. An example is along the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor in Arlington, Virginia, where development has been focused around several transit stops since the early 1980s. As a result, 73% of riders in the corridor travel to and from Metro stations on foot. The corridor is now a regional destination that has a current assessed real estate value of over $10 billion, and accounts for over 32% of Arlington’s real estate revenue from only 7.7% of its land area.
