Transportation Investments in Response to Economic Downturns

This Special Report provides guidance for federal and state officials on the best ways to use stimulus funds for transportation in the future and methods for evaluating such investments. The report examines lessons learned and impacts from the states' management of the transportation component of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009, which provided $48.1 billion for U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) programs. Although the report concludes that there is uncertainty regarding the magnitude of stimulus impacts, federal stimulus spending during a recession can be effective in the short term, as it leads to an increase in gross domestic product and employment within one to two years after the spending. The committee that wrote the report focused on the role and management of transportation spending within a stimulus program, and found it appropriate to include transportation spending as one component of a diversified spending package, especially if the economic downturn is expected to be prolonged. In order to avoid disruption of construction schedules and take advantage of lower costs, Congress and the states should adopt financial and administrative practices that would enable transportation agencies and the construction industry to manage surges in public spending. This could be done through several actions, such as implementing reforms to speed project delivery for federally funded transportation programs and maintaining a larger reserve of projects with completed designs and environmental reviews. To understand the effect that ARRA transportation grants had on spending priorities, USDOT should conduct research on how changes in program rules and in the level of federal aid affect the spending decisions of state and local grant recipients. In addition, because most decisions in transportation stimulus programs rely on balancing immediate and long-term benefits provided by the transportation construction, USDOT should define a unified method for evaluating these benefits. Appendix A highlights two papers that were used to help inform the committee during its development of the report. The papers are not available in the print version of the report but are available for download from the TRB website. One committee member dissented with regard to the effectiveness of stimulus spending as a tool to recover from a recession. A statement by this member is included as Appendix B to the report.

• Record URL:
  http://www.trb.org/main/blurbs/170114.aspx
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/9780309294928
• Publication Date: 2014

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Appendices; Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 170p
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Board Special Report
  • Issue Number: 312
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0360-859X

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Economic conditions; Economic impacts; Federal government; Government funding; Investments; Lessons learned; Policy analysis; Recession
• Identifier Terms: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Economics; Finance; Policy; Transportation (General); I10: Economics and Administration;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01506264
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 9780309294928
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Jan 30 2014 1:53PM