Local Economic Activity Around Rapid Transit Stations: The Case of Chicago’s Orange Line

The positive relationship between improved transit access and economic growth is highly promoted by planners and administrators across the country and the world. While the focus is primarily on improving the connection between workers and jobs, there is an assertion that transit can improve the economy of the neighborhoods it touches. This impact is often measured through resulting changes in land values, with less attention paid to how transit affects local economic activity. One approach to exploring this relationship is looking at trends in job numbers located around transit stations. Chicago’s Orange Line train route – the city’s most recent rapid transit expansion – provides an opportunity to look at this relationship directly, through a comparison of the number of jobs located around the route’s stations before and after its opening. The resulting analysis is inconclusive, suggesting that transit access is not unequivocally good for the vibrancy of local economies. Transit access and transit stations alone do not necessarily impact local economic development in a positive way, and other factors need to be considered in order to create or maintain an environment for economic growth. In light of current discussions about the revitalizing effect of transit on urban neighborhoods, it is more important than ever that this interplay be carefully considered before significant investments are made.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ADD10 Transportation and Economic Development.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Cooper, Julie
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 93rd Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC
  • Date: 2014-1-12 to 2014-1-16
• Date: 2014

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Maps; Photos; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 17p
• Monograph Title: TRB 93rd Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Accessibility; Economic growth; Neighborhoods; Rail transit stations; Rapid transit; Urban areas
• Identifier Terms: Chicago Transit Authority
• Geographic Terms: Chicago (Illinois)
• Subject Areas: Economics; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; I10: Economics and Administration; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01519998
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 14-2852
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Mar 26 2014 10:13AM