Revitalizing Passenger Rail: A Sustainable Solution to Environmental and Public Health Challenges in South Carolina

South Carolina, a historic leader in passenger rail, has become a heavily vehicle-dependent state. As the population rapidly grows, so does the number of vehicles, vehicle miles traveled, and vehicle emissions, including the greenhouse gas pollutants carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O), and particulate matter (PM2.5), significantly contributing to air pollution and deteriorating health and environmental outcomes. Despite this, mass transit is nonexistent for the three largest cities in South Carolina, Charleston, Columbia, and Greenville, forcing residents and travelers to drive. This study evaluates the feasibility and the environmental, public health, environmental justice, and economic implications of a passenger rail line linking these cities. Developing this rail line could reduce emissions by 1,888,056,327 kilograms (kg) of CO2, 61,620.94 kg of N2O, and between 9,979 and 130,337 kg of PM2.5 annually. These reductions would improve air quality, reduce pollution-related health outcomes, influence land use practices, reduce highway maintenance, travel time, and congestion, improve environmental injustice, and boost economies throughout the state. Despite the benefits, South Carolina officials state that a lack of public interest drives the lack of investment. This thesis challenges this belief through a stakeholder survey (n=31) regarding the public perception of public transportation and this specific rail line. The results of this survey indicated both a high level of understanding of the implications of expanded rail as well as high levels of interest and support, with 100% of respondents indicating at least a moderate level of support and over 90% of respondents stating that they were at least moderately willing to travel on this rail line. This contradicts the sentiment of South Carolina officials. However, the current South Carolina passenger rail does not have the infrastructure to attract interest, typically only providing one service per day at inconvenient times, largely between midnight and 7 a.m. Conversely, North Carolina has been adaptive and willing, decreasing the structural barriers, exhibited in the recently added fifth daily service connecting Charlotte to Raleigh. As a result, North Carolina has a disproportionately higher ridership. Revitalizing passenger rail through these structural changes to South Carolina passenger rail could build interest and increase ridership, spurring investment and reducing vehicle emissions, reducing highway traffic, ultimately resulting in improved public health and environmental health outcomes while returning the state to its historic role as a leader in passenger rail.