**GAO-11-290**                      Published: Feb 24, 2011. Publicly Released: Mar 28, 2011.                  

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## Highlights

Concerns about the weak economy, congestion in the transportation system, and the potentially harmful effects of air emissions generated by the transportation sector have raised awareness of the potential benefits and costs of intercity passenger and freight rail relative to other transportation modes such as highways. GAO was asked to review (1) the extent to which transportation policy tools that provide incentives to shift passenger and freight traffic to rail may generate emissions, congestion, and economic development benefits and (2) how project benefits and costs are assessed for investment in intercity passenger and freight rail and how the strengths and limitations of these assessments impact federal decision making. GAO reviewed studies; interviewed federal, state, local, and other stakeholders regarding methods to assess benefit and cost information; assessed information on project benefits and costs included in rail grant applications; and conducted case studies of selected policies and programs in the United Kingdom and Germany to learn more about their policies designed to provide incentives to shift traffic to rail.

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Susan Fleming
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## Topics

Transportation

Cost effectiveness analysisData collectionNeeds assessmentPublic roads or highwaysRailroad industryTransportation planningTransportation policiesTravelComparative analysisDecision makingPolicy evaluationProgram evaluationCost estimates