Practices for Evaluating the Economic Impacts and Benefits of Transit

Because of shifting demands and constrained budgets, transit agencies must consistently and defensibly document the economic impacts and benefits of their services. This synthesis provides state-of-the-practice information for transit agencies to help them in incorporating economic benefits and impacts into their decision-making processes, and to help them advocate for more sustainable funding for transit. It describes the methods used for assessing transit economic impacts and benefits, the types of effects that are covered by these methods, and the ways that agencies are using the information obtained for planning, prioritizing, funding, and stakeholder support. The report includes: (1) a review of national reports and guides pertaining to transit economic analysis methods, (2) a review of local transit impact and benefit studies that show how economic measurement is done, (3) case examples that reveal how economic studies have been developed and applied to support broader planning and decision making, and (4) a survey of transit agencies that had past experience with economic impact or benefit studies. The literature reviews, case examples, and surveys all point to four primary roles of transit that can be documented and communicated: a source of transportation efficiency improvement; a public service; a strategic planning and development tool; and generator of jobs and income. The case examples show that funding, management, and interest in economic evaluation of transit comes from many different types of groups including transit agencies themselves, metropolitan planning organizations, states, and community and business organizations. Studies are often completed by means of partnerships among organizations. The cases also demonstrate that although funding issues are often a motivation for initiating economic studies, they can also become a tool to aid visioning and planning. The reviews of existing studies and reports indicate the multi-modal transportation efficiency effects of transit are generally understood and often analyzed, using widely available transportation analysis and economic analysis tools. A growing number of studies are now including the value of transit as a public service that provides access to opportunities for dependent population groups and the value of transit to support urban land development. The existing body of research spans many forms of transit in a wide variety of settings and agency sizes. The surveys revealed a consensus that both economic impact and benefit studies are useful, particularly in supporting transit funding decisions. However, many survey respondents reported that they face internal funding, staff, and data challenges that have limited their ability to do more of these types of studies.

• Record URL:
  http://www.trb.org/Main/Blurbs/175968.aspx
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/9780309389983
• Authors:
  • Weisbrod, Glen
  • Stein, Naomi
  • Duncan, Chandler
  • Blair, Adam
• Publication Date: 2017

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Appendices; Figures; Glossary; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 94p
• Serial:
  • TCRP Synthesis of Transit Practice
  • Issue Number: 128
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 1073-4880

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Accessibility; Decision making; Economic analysis; Economic benefits; Economic impacts; Public transit; Transit authorities; Transit operating agencies
• Subject Areas: Economics; Public Transportation;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01632434
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 9780309389983
• Report/Paper Numbers: Project J-7, Topic SH-17
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Apr 20 2017 9:48AM