HIGH-SPEED GROUND TRANSPORTATION IS COMING TO AMERICA - SLOWLY

Over the past four decades, the United States has invested heavily in highways and airport improvements, and in general has opted not to develop intercity passenger rail service. Over the same period, by contrast, Europe and Japan have committed large sums of money to developing high-speed guided ground transportation and building extensive new high-speed rail networks. The United States launched a high-speed ground transportation (HSGT) initiative in the mid-1960s and abandoned it in the mid-1970s. Now the Clinton administration proposes to support HSGT development, but the level and type of support remains to be worked out. This paper explores the prologue to and current prospects for HSGT development in the United States.