Social and Economic Benefits
Railways have also been shown to contribute to social vibrancy and economic competitiveness in its ability to transport large amounts of customers and workers to city centers and inner suburbs (i.e. Washington DC as a cultural/policy center due to Metrorail system, San Francisco's lively downtown due to the BART system). Hong Kong has recognized rail as "the backbone of the public transit system" and as such developed their franchised bus system and road infrastructure in compherensive alignment with their rail services. China's large cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou recognize rail transit lines as the framework and bus lines as the main body to their metropolitan transportation systems. The Japanese Shinkansen was built to meet the growing traffic demand in the "heart of Japan's industry and economy" situated on the Tokyo-Kobe line.
As opposed to highway expansion, indicative of the U.S. transportation policy, that incentivizes development of suburbs at the periphery, contributing to increased vehicle miles traveled, carbon emissions, development of greenfield spaces, and depletion of natural reserves, railways channel growth toward dense city agglomerations and along its artery. These arrangements revalue city spaces, local taxes, housing values, and promotion of mixed use development.
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