High Speed Rail and Sprawl

I saw this article today and had to share it, High-Speed Rail As a Conduit of Sprawl. Years ago, when I wore my Transportation Planner hat, I made similar assertions regarding Commuter Rail services between Boston and Worcester. I argued, based upon data for residential development patterns along other rail lines, that the rail network between the two cities would open up new areas between them for additional sprawl. I based this upon basic travel times. If the average commuter is willing to spend XX amount of time commuting and we open up new areas to that travel time, why wouldn't you expect people to locate in those areas?

When I offered this argument, nearly twenty years ago, I was soundly criticized as being anti-transit and anti-rail. So i feel somewhat vindicated by reading quotes such as the one below. The authors are correct, before we expand high speed rail, we need to address suburban and exurban land use.

“High-speed rail will simply add another layer of access to the far-flung suburbs/exurbs and Central Valley, resulting in more mass-produced subdivisions,” warns Robert Cervero, director of the University of California Transportation Center and author of Development Around Transit.