Economic Development Impacts of ODOT Funding on Public Roadways

Transportation plays a vital role in economic development. Companies decide where to locate based on the infrastructure that is currently in place and what potential improvements can be made in the future. Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) currently does not have a methodology or toolkit to evaluate and consider the economic impact of ODOT's transportation investments. Some ODOT funding programs have specific criteria, such as, poverty, distress, and/or job creation, but the entire Department does not have a consistent evaluation tool of transportation's impact on economic development opportunities. Historically, decisions have been based primarily on asset conditions. The ability to enable some level of decision-making to also include economic development impacts could provide a tremendous benefit. If more effective decision making isn't realized the State of Ohio could lose out on community-changing private sector capital investments. The goal of this research is to assist ODOT in making better decisions regarding transportation project selection as well as provide an understanding of how ODOT's investments impact economic development across the State by developing a methodology and tool to assess economic development impacts of ODOT funding. The objectives include (1) defining economic impact for Ohio's transportation infrastructure systems; (2) quantifying the economic impacts of past investment to forecast future impacts at both the project and program levels; (3) analyzing economic outcomes in relation to transportation investments; and (4) developing a quantitative tool that can be used at the project development phase to estimate the effects of transportation investments. This research may assist ODOT in making better decisions regarding transportation project selection as well as provide an understanding of how ODOT's investments impact economic development across the State. With this information ODOT will be better positioned to more effectively support the economic development of Ohio through advantageous transportation investments.

• Record URL:
  https://www.dot.state.oh.us/Divisions/Planning/SPR/Research/reportsandplans/Lists/Final%20Reports%20All/AllItems.aspx?View={7D4D0273-6FC5-48A5-AD17-9CC3A7E83DA0}&FilterField1=State%5fx0020%5fJob%5fx0020%5f%5fx0023%5f&FilterValue1=136672

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $373298
• Contract Numbers:

  39165

  118083

  136672

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Federal Highway Administration

  Office of Planning, Environment and Realty (HEP)
  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Managing Organizations:

  Ohio Department of Transportation

  Research Program
  1980 West Broad Street
  Columbus, OH  United States  43223
• Project Managers:

  Martindale, Jill

• Performing Organizations:

  Metro Analytics, LLC

  14030 Harvington Dr.
  Huntersville, North Carolina  United States  28078
• Principal Investigators:

  Duncan, Chandler

• Start Date: 20230814
• Expected Completion Date: 20240414
• Actual Completion Date: 0

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Construction projects; Decision making; Economic development; Economic impacts; Financing
• Identifier Terms: Ohio Department of Transportation
• Subject Areas: Economics; Highways; Planning and Forecasting;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01889816
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Ohio Department of Transportation
• Contract Numbers: 39165, 118083, 136672
• Files: RIP, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Aug 10 2023 9:22AM