Americas Emerging Megapolitan Areas

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Americas Emerging Megapolitan Areas

• April 6, 2006
• Robert Lang, Virginia Tech/ASU
• Midwestern Transportation Conference
• Kansas City, MO

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The US is Not Like Europe?

• The United States is not Europe or Japan.
  Passenger rail cannot compete with air travel in
  most markets in the United States. The country is
  simply too large our population centers are too
  distantYou do not ride Amtrak from New York City
  to Los Angelesor Denveror probably even
  Chicago. Not when you can make the trip by air in
  hours, rather than days, and in most cases at a
  lower price.
• Norman Y. Mineta
• U.S. Transportation Secretary

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Whats in This Talk?

• Review of Virginia Techs Megapolitan Area
  Geography
• Examples of Virginias Dominion Corridor and
  Arizonas Sun Corridor
• The Two Midwestern Megapolitans Great Lakes and
  I-35 Corridor
• Policy Implications for Transportation Planning

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Megapolitans in The NewsUSA Today July 2005
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Megapolitans in The NewsBusiness 2.0 November
2005
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2005 Megapolitan Geography
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Business 2.0 Centerfold
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Megapolitan 2.0 Geography
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Megapolitans 2.0 at a Glance
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Megapolitan Area Population and Growth Rates
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What is in Megapolitan Areas?

• Over 210 Million People by 2006, or About 70
  Percent of the U.S. Population
• Top 16 most Populous Metropolitan Areas, and 40
  of the Top 50 U.S. Metros
• Will Account for Three Quarters of US Growth by
  2040
• Yet Megapolitans Make Up Only a Fifth of the
  Continental US
• Almost as Dense as Europe West of Warsaw, But
  will Easily be More Dense Than Europe by 2040

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Types of Urban Complexes
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20th CenturyMetropolitan Form
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21st CenturyMetropolitan Form
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VirginiasDominion Corridor
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Arizonas Sun Corridor 2006
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Sun CorridorTypes of Urban Realms
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Midwestern Megapolitans

• Great Lakes Megapolitan AreaSlow Growing, but
  Second Largest Mega
• Chicago to Milwaukee Forms an Extended Metroplex
• I-35 Corridorthe Front Door of the Great Plains
  that is Booming in Texas
• San Antonio to Austin is Forms and Extended
  Metroplex

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Megapolitan Transportation Policy

• Megapolitans are a Targeted Area for
  Transportation Improvements
• Truck only Lanes
• High-speed Rail Transit
• Megapolitan Planning Organizations, or Super MPOs
• Census Adoption of Megapolitan Statistic
• Even Combined Statistical Area Designation will
  Bring About Super MPOs by 2010 in a Dozen Big
  Regions

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Growth in US Daily Truck Traffic to 2020
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www.mi.vt.edu