Life-Cycle Environmental Impact of High-Speed Rail System in the I-45 Corridor
The Houston-Dallas I-45 corridor was ranked as the top priority among 18 traffic corridors in Texas for the development of an Intercity Passenger Transit System, by the Texas A&M Transportation Institute. The city councils of Dallas and Houston have recently taken positive legislative steps towards the construction of a 240-mile high-speed rail (HSR) system connecting the cities via Shinkansen N700 series trains with top speeds of 200 mph. At this juncture, there is an imperative to examine the potential life-cycle environmental impacts of the HSR system and compare/contrast with the environmental impacts associated with existing transportation modes of highway and air travel. HSR systems powered by electricity have significantly lower releases of criteria air pollutants (CAP) and greenhouse gases (GHG) during operation stage, in comparison to conventional transportation by road/air. However, this study will consider the total life cycle of an HSR system including all stages from ‘cradle-to-grave’ such as raw material extraction, infrastructure development, vehicle manufacturing, electricity generation, operation & maintenance, and end-of-life for two components: Vehicle and Infrastructure. This proposal would conduct a holistic life cycle assessment (LCA) study exploring the energy and environmental impact of the HSR system and the role of this transportation mode in alleviating persistent air quality problems in the nonattainment areas of Houston and Dallas. The proposed research would develop estimates for CAP, GHG emissions, and energy consumption per vehicle/passenger-kilometer traveled under scenarios of varying passenger ridership/migration level to the HSR system. The outcomes from this LCA study would provide vital information to regulators, planners and researchers studying environmental impacts of fossil fuel usage in the transportation sector of the US.
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Supplemental Notes:
- 18PPPVU01
Language
- English
Project
- Status: Completed
- Funding: $68,500
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Contract Numbers:
69A3551747106
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Sponsor Organizations:
Department of Transportation
Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC United States 20590Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology
University Transportation Centers Program
Department of Transportation
Washington, DC United States 20590 -
Managing Organizations:
Department of Transportation
Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC United States 20590Transportation Consortium of South-Central States (Tran-SET)
Louisiana State University
Baton Rouge, LA United States 70803 -
Project Managers:
Kommalapati, Raghava
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Performing Organizations:
Prairie View A&M University
Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering
P.O. Box 519
Prairie View, TX United States 77446 -
Principal Investigators:
Kommalapati, Raghava
Botlaguduru, Venkata
Choe, Doeun
- Start Date: 20180315
- Expected Completion Date: 20190915
- Actual Completion Date: 20190915
- USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Energy consumption; Environmental impacts; Greenhouse gases; High speed rail; Life cycle analysis; Pollutants; Sustainable transportation
- Identifier Terms: SimaPro (Software)
- Geographic Terms: Houston (Texas)
- Subject Areas: Energy; Environment; Public Transportation; Railroads;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01664069
- Record Type: Research project
- Source Agency: Transportation Consortium of South-Central States (Tran-SET)
- Contract Numbers: 69A3551747106
- Files: UTC, RIP
- Created Date: Mar 23 2018 8:44AM