Political Preferences and Transport Infrastructure: Evidence from California’s High-Speed Rail

Pablo PhD Fajgelbaum, Cecile PhD Gaubert, Nicole Gorton, Eduardo Morales and Edouard Schaal

Institute of Transportation Studies, Research Reports, Working Papers, Proceedings from Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Berkeley

Abstract: We study how political preferences shaped California’s High-Speed Rail (CHSR), a largetransportation project approved by referendum in 2008. Voters’ support responded significantly to the projected economic gains in their tract of residence, as measured by a quantitative model of high-speed rail matched to CHSR plans. Given this response, a revealed-preference approach comparing the proposed network with alternative designs identifies strong planner’s preferences for political support. The optimal politically-blind design would have placed the stations nearer to California’s dense metro areas, where it was harder to sway votes, thus increasing the projected economic gains.

Keywords: Business (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024-07-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cdm and nep-tre
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