Highway Safety Effects from Rail Line Closure in Kansas

Abstract

This paper develops a methodology for estimating the highway safety effects resulting from rail line closure. It improves upon the previously developed methodology by recognizing both the highway safety costs and the highway safety benefits of rail line closure. The methodology is applied to a region of western Kansas with potentially endangered short line railroads. The author finds that short line abandonment in the western two-thirds of Kansas would result in net annual highway safety benefits of $1.4 million.