Benefits of Shifting Passenger Traffic from Air to Rail: A Case Study of California High-Speed Rail

This study provides a method to quantify the benefits of shifting passenger traffic from air to high-speed rail from the perspective of flight-delay cost reduction. We first estimate the number of flight reductions for airport origin-destination pairs based on the high-speed rail ridership forecasts provided in the California High-Speed Rail 2020 Business Plan, and then distribute these flight reductions to quarter-hour intervals. Lasso models are applied to estimate the impact of reduced queuing delays at SFO, LAX, and SAN on arrival delays at the national Core 29 airports. These delay reductions are then monetized using aircraft operating costs and the value of passenger time. We evaluate alternative airport-capacity and flight-schedule scenarios, as well as multiple percentiles of probabilistic high-speed rail ridership forecasts. The resulting estimates indicate flight-delay cost savings of $51-88 million in 2018 dollars in 2029 and $235-392 million in 2018 dollars in 2033.