Final Report (PDF)
Tech Brief (PDF)
| Project Title | Economic Impacts of Transportation Infrastructure Investments |
| University | Penn State |
| Principal Investigator(s) | S. Ilgin Guler |
| Funding Source(s) and Amounts Provided (by each agency or organization) | Federal Funds — $99,310.00 PennDOT Match — $98,571.98 |
| Total Project Cost | Total Project Cost — $197,881.98 |
| Start and End Dates | 01/03/2022 — 06/03/2023 |
| Brief Description of Research Project | The purpose of this project is to identify optimal transportation investment strategies that maximize the economic returns for the entire Mid-Atlantic region, considering both traditional and technological investments. Toward this end, the study has four main objectives: (1) Compile a unique database of county-level economic outcomes, historic annual transportation investments by type, including both traditional (i.e., construction and maintenance of roads) and technological (e.g., fiber optic cables for infrastructure). This database will be assembled from multiple sources including U.S. and local Census data, Departments of Transportation (DOTs) of states in the study region, and local governments. (2) Develop a spatial econometric model that describes multiple economic indicators at the geographic resolution of a county as a function of different types of transportation investments made within the region, after controlling for key socio-demographics. (3) Explore and quantify the moderating influence of urban land-use patterns and transportation network connectivity on the impact of transportation investments. (4) Quantify the direct (i.e., change in economic outcomes in a county due to changes in transportation investments in the same county), indirect (change in economic outcomes in a county due to changes in transportation investments in neighboring counties), and total effect of transportation investments on economic outcomes. |