Skip to Main Content
 

Global Search Box

 
 
 
 

Files

File List


Prasai Saurav Accepted Thesis Eearly SU24.pdf (3.92 MB)

Digital Accessibility Report

File List


Acrobat Accessibility Report-05_08_2024-SauravPrasai.pdf (49.28 KB)

ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

Analyzing the Impact of Transportation Investment on Economic Development at State and Local Level: A Case Study of the State of Ohio, USA

Prasai, Saurav
http://orcid.org/0009-0000-0692-8940
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1715180458448854

Abstract Details

2024, Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, Civil Engineering (Engineering and Technology).
Most research findings in the past have been inconclusive about the strength of the relationship between transportation investments and the national or state economy. In addition to this, there has been a plethora of arguments regarding the significance of positive relationships in a developed nation that already holds a well-connected and efficient transportation system. While the national and state-level impact of transportation has been questionable, most research agrees with the positive significance of the localized and redistribution impacts. Although economic development remains one of the important goals in the transportation planning process, the State Departments of Transportation (DOTs) struggle to find a simpler methodology to quantify the impact of transportation investment at the state level. Using time-series cross-sectional data from 19 peer states including the state of Ohio from 1970-2020, this thesis analyzed the significance of the relationship between highway capital outlay as well as annual road mileage added and economic development indicators of real GDP, real PCI, total employment, and population to develop a regression model. Furthermore, a case study was conducted for the state of Ohio to discern the impact of highway investment on its economy using time-series data from 1970-2020, as well as to observe the redistribution of the economy from 2000 to 2020 by the National Highway System (NHS) across the Ohio Counties. The research findings suggested that while highway capital outlay had a weak positive but significant relationship with economic change parameters among peer states, it was insignificant in the case of the state of Ohio. Additionally, the annual road miles added to the existing transportation system had no significant impact on any of the economic parameters except population change. The regression models developed with highway capital outlay as a predictor variable explained less than 20% of the variability in the economic development indicators, indicating transportation investment alone cannot explain the overall economic change phenomenon. However, the applicability of the developed regression model remains valid in transportation planning as it predicts that increasing the highway investment from $1 billion to $10 billion (unit change in log scale) would be associated with an increase in nearly $24 billion of real GDP, addition of 170 thousand of jobs and 32 thousand of residents in a state. Likewise, the findings from county-level analysis of the state of Ohio suggested that the counties with dense National Highway System attained significantly higher economic development as compared to other counties, indicating that NHS played a substantial role in centralizing the economy. However, the counties with dense NHS did not record a significantly higher percentage rate of change in economic parameters over the past 20 years. Instead, the adjacent counties and those located farther away had higher populations, and per capita income growth rates, implying that dense NHS counties had reached a state of saturated economy, allowing the expansion of growth toward other counties.
Deborah McAvoy (Committee Chair)
Bhaven Naik (Committee Member)
Issam Khoury (Committee Member)
Ana Mojica Myers (Committee Member)
161 p.
Civil Engineering; Economics; Transportation; Transportation Planning
Transportation Investment; Economic Development; Transportation Impacts; Transportation Economical Impacts; Highway Capital Outlay Impacts; Redistribution Impacts of Transportation, National Highway System Impacts on Economy; Transportation Investment Impact on Ohio's Economy

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Prasai, S. (2024). Analyzing the Impact of Transportation Investment on Economic Development at State and Local Level: A Case Study of the State of Ohio, USA [Master's thesis, Ohio University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1715180458448854

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Prasai, Saurav. Analyzing the Impact of Transportation Investment on Economic Development at State and Local Level: A Case Study of the State of Ohio, USA. 2024. Ohio University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1715180458448854.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Prasai, Saurav. "Analyzing the Impact of Transportation Investment on Economic Development at State and Local Level: A Case Study of the State of Ohio, USA." Master's thesis, Ohio University, 2024. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1715180458448854

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ohiou1715180458448854
61
© 2024, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Ohio University and OhioLINK.