Research Needs Statements-- TED Committee (2007)

The TRB Committee on Transportation and Economic Development has posted three research needs statements. They are shown below. For a complete listing of TRB research needs statements, go to http://rns.trb.org/

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(1) Data for Evaluating Economic Development Consequences of Transportation Investments

Efforts to evaluate the economic development consequences of transportation investments frequently come up against a glaring gap -- the lack of information on the flows of goods and people. This is most common in urban studies, though data on region-wide freight movements is also commonly deficient. New research is needed to develop ways of using existing resources to improve the quality and availability of data needed to demonstrate the economic consequences of transportation investments in a way that enhances public understanding and steers clear of black box models.

Illustrating this problem is the fact that most analyses of the relation between transportation investment and economic productivity do not take into account the intensity of use of transportation systems. Productivity studies, particularly those using production and cost function frameworks, typically treat all transportation systems as if traffic flows are the same. This simplified assumption potentially leads to biases in the estimates of the productivity of transportation infrastructure. Moreover, this approach ignores the very activity—shipment of goods—that generates the productivity gains.

Another deficiency in data collection is the lack of information that links the location of businesses and households to the location of the transportation systems that provide them with services. Most productivity studies are conducted using data that are aggregated by some level of government jurisdiction. Studies performed at the state or national level fall far short of establishing a spatial link. It is likely that state-level analyses could attribute the efficiency gains experienced by a business in one part of the state to an Interstate highway located in another part of the state. The problem is even more acute for national-level studies. Furthermore, estimates from state-level analyses do not address the questions that policy makers or planners have to consider concerning the location and type of future projects.

Among regional and corridor studies, the links between highway benefits and patterns of use are typically developed, but the net productivity effect is often not measured. Such studies tend to pay more attention to gross levels of job and income attraction than to the measurement of net productivity effects.

One important direction in coming years is to explore better ways to generate and collect the data necessary to conduct useful studies. Because important effects go beyond the outcomes of the transportation system itself, many types of data are needed. These data include not only transportation system characteristics, but also firm-level characteristics, transportation financing information, commodity flows, and accompanying characteristics of the regions included in the economic analysis. Furthermore, the data should be both cross section and time series to improve the reliability of the estimates.

Sponsoring Committee: ADD10, Transportation and Economic Development
Date Posted: 08/11/2007 Index Terms: Economic development, Transportation planning, Infrastructure, Traffic infrastructure, Investments, Traffic flow

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(2) Analytic Methods for Evaluating the Economic Development Consequences of New Technologies and Innovations

One important area of research is to explore the economic development consequences of productivity-enhancing innovations that are being introduced into existing transport systems. A framework should be provided and benchmarks should be established for understanding the broad economic consequences of these innovations. To be assured that research encompasses the issues important to decision makers in the new millennium, a systemwide and regional economic perspective will have to be maintained. Researchers must be mindful of the direct social effects of transportation investment as well as the economic effects.

This can include any new technologies that can enhance the efficiency of the existing highway system. Examples include intelligent highway systems, congestion pricing, intermodal freight facilities, geographic positioning systems, and instrument landing systems. Within each of these areas, numerous innovations are being developed. Policy makers and practitioners need to gain a clear understanding of the effects of these innovations on economic development through enhanced delivery of transportation services and a more efficient use of scarce resources. Scarce resources may extend beyond transportation investment dollars to include land use, air quality, and noise pollution.

In this context, it becomes critical that highways, rail lines, airports, and seaports be considered as a system, where the system goes beyond the fixed infrastructure, such as a stretch of highway or a rail line, to include the vehicles that use the infrastructure. The concept of intelligent highway systems underscores this trend. Simply put, vehicles are being linked to each other and to traffic control devices to improve the efficiency of the total highway system. Similar types of innovations in intelligent traffic management are emerging for air, sea, and rail systems.

To accomplish this kind of evaluation, it also becomes important for researchers to consider the more fundamental issues of understanding the effects of different “attributes” of highways (and other modes) on economic development. That is, do we know anything about the effects on productivity of reducing highway congestion or improving pavement condition? These attributes are in fact what new technologies are attempting to address. Yet, we do not currently have solid empirical evidence of the effects of these attributes.

Exploring the economic effects of components or attributes of highway systems is essential in informing the policy debate and in aiding the efforts of local decision makers. That is particularly important insofar as we are at the point of tweaking existing infrastructure systems with capacity adjustments and new technologies. From an economic perspective, that makes for economic decisions that are much more subtle and harder to measure. Yet the importance of these decisions for economic development is still growing as we continue to move into a more globally competitive economy.

Sponsoring Committee: ADD10, Transportation and Economic Development
Source Info: committee members, prior white papers
Date Posted: 08/11/2007 Index Terms: Technological innovations, Technology, Economic development, Highways, Land use planning, Intermodal transportation, Decision making, Policy making,

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(3) Information Dissemination about the Economic Development Consequences of Transportation Investments

Transportation investments are becoming increasingly complex. Decision makers must take into account a wider range of factors. These factors include the effects of transportation systems as a stimulant of growth and as a cost of growth. They also include the effects on the environment and on the quality of life within the area served by the transportation system. In some cases, the ability to locate a transportation project in a particular place depends on the consent of residents within that area. For instance, expansion of Interstate highway spurs through urban areas or the siting of a new airport would be highly scrutinized and most likely resisted by local residents. To further complicate the process, decisions concerning transportation investments are increasingly being made at the local level. The devolution of responsibility of transportation projects involves many more partners in the process, which include not only agencies that have traditionally dealt with transportation projects but also entities that deal with economic development and environmental issues.

The increasing complexity in the decision-making process calls for more research to develop ways of achieving greater dissemination of information and expanded educational efforts. At present, the concepts and the studies concerning the effects of transportation infrastructure on economic development are often not very accessible to this group. Research is needed on ways to make the analysis and the concepts meaningful to practitioners and decision makers and to educate them about the value of incorporating these concepts and findings into their operations.

Before analysts will begin to do this, they must appreciate the relevance of these effects to transportation investment decisions. Giving the various stakeholders an opportunity to express their preferences for transportation investment is an integral part of the process of defining these issues. Once the issues are defined, then analysts must be able to assign costs and benefits to the various effects of transportation investment, so that informed decisions can be made. This step requires that analysts understand the relevant research that has been conducted and know how to apply it to specific projects.

Sponsoring Committee: ADD10, Transportation and Economic Development
Date Posted: 08/11/2007 Date Modified: 08/13/2007
Index Terms: Investments, Decision making, Economic growth, Urban growth, Quality of life, Urban areas, Stakeholders, Economic development,

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