Productivity and the Highway Network: A Look at the Economic Benefits to Industry from Investment in the Highway Network

Details

• Corporate Creators:
  United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Highway Administration
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Economic benefits
  • Highways
  • Industries
  • Investments
  • Productivity
  • Rate of return
• Publication/ Report Number:
  FHWA-PL-96-016, HPP-11/9-96(5M)E
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States
• Corporate Publisher:
  United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Highway Administration
• Abstract:
  This study sheds new light on the commercial benefits of highway infrastructure investments. The study provides important empirical evidence about the historic contribution of roads to the U.S. economy. Key findings include the following: (1) Over the period 1950 to 1989, U.S. industries realized production cost savings averaging 18 cents annually for each dollar invested in the road system. (2) The highway network's contribution to economic productivity growth was quite large during and immediately following the interstate construction era. Although the impact has declined considerably since the 1970s, highway investment remains an important contributor to economic productivity growth. (3) The net social rate of return on investment in the non-local road system during the 1980s was 16%, and the rate of return for the entire road network was 10%.
• Format:
  PDF
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/85267/dot_85267_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 3.38 MB]
• Collection(s):
  Federal Highway Administration
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:081ee2e51eae9cc351f6738961e7a419bb3ef98d7b34d689434095064a6fd5b5df89f8586a6e1d1a29e1bc97eb665ecf1ef2467990649fa7ec270904f74b9ba5