Economic Benefits of Transit
Corresponding Author: Kai Monast, Institute for Transportation Research and Education
Presented By: Kai Monast, Institute for Transportation Research and Education
Abstract
In today's environment of limited funding and constant pressure to perform, it is essential that public transportation providers be able to effectively communicate the value that the service has to the community. It is estimated that North Carolina’s public transportation systems generated at least $1.019 billion in business output and supports over 11,000 full-time jobs. The benefits to NC communities of transportation cost savings and having an affordable mobility option is estimated to be $802 million. In addition, every $1 the state of North Carolina invests in transit helps to generate approximately $7 of investment from federal and local sources.
Using this information, which is updated annually, NCDOT and individual transit systems can convey a simple but uniform message across the state and to their communities about the benefits of public transportation.
Come to this session to learn how this figures were derived and how you can make it work for your agency. This approach presents both the opportunity costs and direct and indirect economic benefits of transit service provision and the economic value added by transit operations. This presentation discusses the data and methodology used in the development of single-page economic benefit summaries for the entire state as well as individual transit agencies. ITRE has developed the methodology based upon previous studies conducted by other organizations as well as the Transportation Economic Development Impact System (TREDIS). Although the initial development was complicated, the final method was developed to be easily updated on an annual basis using current data- meaning that NCDOT and each transit provider receives an annual report of their economic benefits that can be shared with elected officials and other stakeholders.