This paper explores the appropriateness of the megaregion concept for high-speed rail (HSR) planning. The paper identifies potential HSR routes with higher economic benefits and analyzes functional economic relationships of regions and market feasibility with the use of the origination and destination data of commodity flows and air passenger travel. The paper also analyzes the proposed HSR programs by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Railroad Administration and finds that most HSR routes with higher investment priority are located within megaregions and across state boundaries and that the recently released federal HSR programs are moving to take the multijurisdictional interactions into account for allocating HSR funds. The results imply that the megaregion would be an appropriate scale for developing HSR in terms of the benefits and effectiveness of implementation.
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