MTI Research Snaps Webinar: "Station-area Planning and Design for High-Speed Rail: Lessons for California and San Jose Diridon"

As both the scholarly literature and the experience on the ground indicate, good station-area planning is a very important prerequisite for the eventual successful operation of a high-speed rail (HSR) station; it can also trigger opportunities for economic development in the station area and the station-city. What is less clear, however, is what constitutes good station-area planning and how California station cities in general, and the Diridon HSR station in particular, can achieve it. Experiences from international examples of HSR stations can provide some valuable lessons. The webinar presenters drew from a detailed review of European case studies of HSR stations, a review of the relevant literature, and interviews with station area planners and designers, to explore issues surrounding HSR station and station-area planning. More specifically, the webinar addressed the following questions: 1) Which factors influence the impact of HSR on station-cities? 2) What are the elements of good station-area planning for HSR stations? 3) What are some common mistakes in designing and planning HSR stations? 4) What lessons do we learn from successful European HSR stations? 5) How do these lessons apply to San Jose Diridon station?

Webinar Presenters: Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris, PhD - MTI Research Affiliate, Associate Provost UCLA, Professor of Urban Planning, UCLA and Deike Peters, PhD - MTI Research Affiliate, Assistant Professor of Environmental Planning and Practice, Soka University of America.