Analysis of High-Speed Rail Implementation Alternatives in the Northeast Corridor: the Role of Institutional and Technological Flexibility

In this paper, the Northeast Corridor of the United States is studied using the framework of the CLIOS Process (developed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)), scenario planning, and flexibility analysis. In particular, two bundles of strategic alternatives for high-speed rail implementation are proposed and analyzed under three different scenarios. Although the bundles of strategic alternatives proposed are very similar to other commonly accepted ways to implement high-speed rail in the corridor, the results motivate incorporation of flexibility into the bundles to allow decision makers to adapt as situations evolve. While designing-in and executing flexibility has a cost, it may facilitate the implementation of the bundles by enabling adaptation under different scenarios, thereby improving performance.