Social impacts of high speed rail projects: addressing spatial equity effects.

Abstract

Equity issues are increasingly included among social impacts of transportation investments. Equity implications take into account the distribution of effects among different societal groups (social equity) or regions (spatial equity). The analysis of the spatial distribution of effects is crucial, as certain transportation investments may contribute to increase imbalances between regions, i.e. negative spatial equity impacts. The planning process of a new high speed rail (HSR) corridor should take into account these equity considerations. HSR specific features make it a serious candidate to result in negative equity impacts. These are mainly the significant differences in commercial speeds between HSR and conventional rail, and the spatial separation between HSR stations. In this context, this paper describes and validates a methodology to assess spatial equity impacts of HSR based in the calculation of accessibility indicators. Accessibility analysis is a special type of spatial analysis technique which is increasingly used to assess spatial equity impacts of transportation investments. The proposed methodology is intended to support transport planners when confronted with the task to optimize efficiency and equity objectives. The validity of the methodology is tested with its application to alternative corridor developments of the Spanish HSR network based on the 2020 scenario included in the Spanish Strategic Transport and Infrastructure Plan 2005-2020 (PEIT). The case study application shows that the results are heavily influenced by the selection of the accessibility indicator, each one providing a complementary perspective on equity measurement. In addition, results highlight the important role played by the selection of the commercial speed. In particular, increasing commercial speeds from 220 km/h to 300 km/h in a given corridor results in significant negative impacts on spatial equity, as differences between locations with and without a HSR station are highlighted.