Assessing and Communicating the Economic and Quality of Life Benefits of Transportation Infrastructure Investment
Fresh flowers and lettuce in the depth of winter, firefighters on site at a burning house within minutes, a weekend visit with family in a distant city, a cornucopia of choices of new cars and cell phones manufactured in many places, access to top quality medical care and recreation destinations: These are a few of the many benefits of multimodal transportation investments that provide employment, opportunity, and enjoyment to millions of Americans on a scale far beyond what was available to previous generations. Few people would fail to agree, upon reflection, that mobility of people and freight, access to resources and markets, and the free flow of goods and services are fundamental and essential to our economic and social activity and wellbeing. The various benefits of transportation investment are, however, often difficult to measure and not immediately apparent. The benefits are enjoyed by many people over the course of years and decades after each investment is initially made by a few government agencies and private firms. Keeping pace with changes of population, economic demand and production processes, technology, and societal values and priorities—as well as aging, wear and tear of the transportation infrastructure—require continuing investment. Consequently, most Americans are unaware of the degree to which our economic prosperity, community vitality, and personal well being depend on the services multimodal transportation investments deliver and the reliance of these benefits on continued investment. The study was undertaken at the request of AASHTO leadership, to develop (A) several themes that AASHTO can use to increase awareness of the role transportation plays in ensuring a robust economy and a high quality of life, and (B) a practical communication plan based on these themes for AASHTO’s use in communicating about the role transportation plays in ensuring a robust economy and a high quality of life. The project report, presenting the themes and communication plan, were provided to AASHTO for that organization's use.
Language
- English
Project
- Status: Completed
- Funding: $250000
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Contract Numbers:
Project 23-01
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Sponsor Organizations:
National Cooperative Highway Research Program
Transportation Research Board
500 Fifth Street, NW
Washington, DC United States 20001American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO)
444 North Capitol Street, NW
Washington, DC United States 20001Federal Highway Administration
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC United States 20590 -
Performing Organizations:
WSP
, -
Principal Investigators:
Hammond, Paula
- Start Date: 20190709
- Expected Completion Date: 20200331
- Actual Completion Date: 20200331
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Benefits; Communication; Economic impacts; Infrastructure; Investments; Quality of life
- Subject Areas: Economics; Society; Transportation (General);
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01735308
- Record Type: Research project
- Source Agency: Transportation Research Board
- Contract Numbers: Project 23-01
- Files: TRB, RIP
- Created Date: Mar 30 2020 5:07PM