1. Examining the Role of the Hiawatha Service
in the Milwaukee-Chicago Corridor
Ben Sperry and Ethan Johnson
[+] Author Affiliations
Paper No. JRC2010-36223, pp. 507-515; 9 pages
doi:10.1115/JRC2010-36223
From:
 2010 Joint Rail Conference
 2010 Joint Rail Conference, Volume 2
 Urbana, Illinois, USA, April 27–29, 2010
 Conference Sponsors:Rail Transportation Division
 ISBN: 978-0-7918-4907-1 | eISBN: 978-0-7918-3867-9
 Copyright © 2010 by ASME
abstract
In recent years, the policy and regulatory environment for intercity passenger rail in the United States has shifted
dramatically. To support the resulting increase in intercity passenger rail planning activities, there is a need to
understand the roles for passenger rail service in an intercity corridor, including who is using the service and how it
is being used. Using on-board passenger survey data, this paper examines the role of the Hiawatha Service in the
modal mix of the dense Milwaukee-Chicago intercity corridor. Primary trip purposes among Hiawatha
Service travelers include personal trips, work commutes, and business trips. In the absence of the Hiawatha Service,
more than 85 percent of passengers would travel via alternative travel modes. Consequently, it is estimated that
the Hiawatha Service removes nearly 400,000 vehicles and 32 million vehicle-miles (51 million vehicle-km)
traveled from the congested Milwaukee-Chicago corridor annually. As the nation moves forward with significant
investment in intercity passenger rail, there are lessons to be learned fromthe Hiawatha Service, both for rail service
planning and the formation of transportation policy. For rail planning, this research indicates that the proper service
configurations can result in a variety of trip purposes being accommodated on the route; this raises additional
challenges when considering service elements such as on-board amenities. Froma policy perspective, these findings
present a compelling argument for continued investment in intercity passengerrail because they demonstrate that the
availability of high-quality passenger rail service in the right corridor can have meaningful impacts on highway
congestion, regional economic development and job access, and air quality and greenhouse gas emissions.
Copyright © 2010 by ASME
Topics: Transportation systems , Vehicles , Air pollution , Highways , Rails , Emissions
http://proceedings.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/proceeding.aspx?articleid=1617248
Alsofoundat
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/267600445_Examining_the_Role_of_the_Hiawatha_Service
_in_the_Milwaukee-Chicago_Corridor