Is there adequate demand for HSR service throughout the entire corridor?
A. The passenger demand for each of the three alternatives will be estimated for the year 2035. The analysis will provide the total users by travel market, city to city origin and destination travel. Ridership will be extrapolated for peak and service offerings for key city pairs and aggregated daily, weekly, monthly and annually for the Empire Corridor. These marketing forecasts will be coordinated and evaluated against the cost and operational plans for each alternative. The determination of adequate demand will ultimately be based on an assessment of cost to build, cost of operating service, and resulting revenues. At this time, preliminary analysis shows a significant increase in demand in all scenarios studied. Over time, demand will increase and the Empire Corridor will mature as communities served by the line better integrate land uses and transit with employment and residential uses.
