A transportation indicator is a measure of change over time in the transportation system or in its social, economic, environmental, or other effects. Two National Research Council (NRC) studies recommended, as a matter of high priority, that the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) in the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) develop a consistent, easily understood, and useful set of key indicators of the transportation system. The NRC's Committee on National Statistics and its Transportation Research Board, which conducted these studies, convened a workshop on June 13, 2000. The purpose of the Workshop on Transportation Indicators was to discuss issues relating to transportation indicators and provide the Bureau of Transportation Statistics with new ideas for issues to address.

This primer provides a foundation for understanding the role of economic analysis in highway decision making. It is oriented toward state and local officials who have responsibility for assuring that limited resources get targeted to their best uses and who must publicly account for their decisions. Economic analysis is presented as an integral component of a comprehensive infrastructure management methodology that takes a long-term view of infrastructure performance and cost. The primer encompasses a full range of economic issues, including economic fundamentals, life-cycle cost analysis, benefit-cost analysis, forecasting traffic for benefit calculations, risk analysis and economic impact analysis.

This synthesis will be of interest to transportation planners, environmental analysts, and government officials at the federal, state, regional, and local levels. It describes the state of the practice with respect to the procedures and methodologies used by planning agencies at all levels to plan and evaluate alternative multimodal passenger transportation and to integrate these plans with related land use and environmental issues. This report of the Transportation Research Board describes the federal studies and guidelines that are available and presents the findings of an extensive survey of state, regional, and local agencies to identify the evaluation methods that are being used in the practice. Selected case studies for five types of modal evaluation are presented: intercity corridor, regional study, regional screening, urban corridor, and regional programming.

Presents quantitative nat. est. of the magnitude of transport's. impacts on the environ. It is the most comprehensive compilation of environmental and transport. data to date. Addresses all primary modes of transport. (highway, rail, aviation, and maritime transport) and all environ'l. media (air, water, and land resources), and covers the full "life-cycle" of transport., from construction of infrastructure and mfg. of vehicles to disposal of vehicles and parts. The impacts of transport. extend beyond the air quality impacts of vehicle travel. Presents a framework for developing various types of indicators and for categorizing transport. activities that affect the environ. Illustrated.

"Research sponsored by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration."

The Transportation Research Board (TRB) and the Division on Earth and Life Studies (DELS) have released the pre-publication version of TRB Special Report 290, The Potential Impacts of Climate Change on U.S. Transportation, which explores the consequences of climate change for U.S. transportation infrastructure and operations. The report provides an overview of the scientific consensus on the current and future climate changes of particular relevance to U.S. transportation, including the limits of present scientific understanding as to their precise timing, magnitude, and geographic location; identifies potential impacts on U.S. transportation and adaptation options; and offers recommendations for both research and actions that can be taken to prepare for climate change. The book also summarizes previous work on strategies for reducing transportation-related emissions of carbon dioxide--the primary greenhouse gas--that contribute to climate change. Five commissioned papers used by the committee to help develop the report, a summary of the report, and a National Academies press release associated with the report are available online. DELS, like TRB, is a division of the National Academies, which include the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council.

The idea for this book had its origins in a series of working papers prepared for the Georgia Transportation Planning Land Use Model project. The book is not an official report on that project and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Georgia Department of Transportation. Mrs. Catherine Bennett, Systems Designer, assisted in the special run of the Georgia State Econometric Model in Chapter 2. Mr. Richard Burns and Miss Louise Shedd, research assistant!i, aided in data assembly and analysis for Chapters 3 and 5. The authors wish to express their particular thanks to Mrs. Dallas Gonzales, who provided editorial assistance, and to Mrs. Deborah Conklin, who typed the final manuscript. Table of contents PREFACE v LIST OF TABLES x LIST OF FIGURES xii 1. INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW PAUL F. WENDT Urban growth theories 1 Land use models 4 The Georgia transportation planning land use model 6 Employment and population submodel 7 Description of the Delphi technique 8 Housing and population submodel 9 Relationships between land use forecasting 10 Summary 12 2. NATIONAL AND REGIONAL ECONOMETRIC MODELS 16 JOHN B. LEGLER AND TERRY D. ROBERTSON Macro-econometric models 16 Problems in constructing regional econometric models 19 The Georgia model 20 Testing the Georgia model 22 Forecasts and applications of the Georgia model 25 An example of impact analysis using the Georgia state model 28 Summary 30 3. GROWTH AND CHANGE IN THE GEORGIA REGIONAL ECONOMIES 32 CHARLES F.

This book, first published in 1974, provides a comprehensive review of the application of economic concepts to the appraisal of transport systems. It presents the basic economic ideas underlying their application to transport appraisal. The exposition of these concepts links recent advances in economic theory to practical evaluation procedures. The bulk of the book is concerned with how the basic concepts may be put to use.