The Need for Increasing the Capacity of Public Transportation Infrastructure
Q1 2014
With respect to this issue, a recent report, entitled “The Role of Transit in Support of High Growth Business Clusters in the U.S,” examines how America’s fastest-growing, knowledge-intensive industries — such as biotechnology and information-technology — are creating demand for land and transportation capacity in cities where these industrial clusters are concentrated.
High-tech clustering increases travel demand and puts stress on the capacity of local public transportation infrastructure, according to the EDRG report The Boston-based Economic Development Research Group, Inc. (EDRG) prepared the report for the American Public Transportation Association (APTA). It discusses how the high-tech sector has transitioned to a greater emphasis on information technology services and biotech R&D services. This, in turn, has created the need for even tighter clustering in urban areas that have access to a highly skilled work force and proximity to leading research institutions.
This clustering of high-tech, high-growth industries adds to U.S. productivity and strengthens the nation’s competitive advantage. Milken Institute’s “Best Performing Cities” report explains how high-tech is responsible for allowing certain cities to weather the recent recession better than others. Nonetheless, this high-tech clustering also increases travel demand and puts stress on the capacity of local public transportation infrastructure, according to the EDRG report.
Specifically, the study examined high-tech business clusters in Boston, Seattle, Chicago, Atlanta, San Francisco, and Denver, to identify the transportation policy issues and needs being created by their growth. The case studies showed how high-tech, high-growth business clusters across the nation are facing limitations on future highway capacity and generating the need for public transportation solutions to support their future employment growth. Both older highway-oriented tech clusters and newer, urban-redevelopment clusters are facing this problem of strained transportation capacity. According to the report, private-sector stakeholders as well as public agencies are aware of this problem and are already initiating and planning for future investment in public transportation to address these needs.
According to EDRG President, Glen Weisbrod, “While the study raises as many questions as it answers, it clearly points to the need for a national discussion — not just about the role of business cluster locations in supporting global economic competitiveness, but also about ‘real world’ needs for public transportation investment to help sustain their growth.” The research indicates that a failure to increase public transportation availability at high-tech business clusters will cost the United States billions of dollars in lost economic activity.
Project Announcements
Vietnam-Based Boviet Solar Plans Greenville, North Carolina, Production Operations
05/01/2024
Nestlé Purina PetCare Company Expands Jefferson, Wisconsin, Operations
04/30/2024
Honda Motor Plans Alliston, Ontario, Canada, EV Production-Battery Operations
04/30/2024
Toyota Expand Princeton, Indiana, Assembly Operations
04/30/2024
Tradd Advisory Company Expands Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, Operations
04/29/2024
KOI Superior Walls Plans Boone County, Kentucky, Operations
04/29/2024
Most Read
-
2023's Leading Metro Locations: Hotspots of Economic Growth
Q4 2023
-
2023 Top States for Doing Business Meet the Needs of Site Selectors
Q3 2023
-
38th Annual Corporate Survey: Are Unrealized Predictions of an Economic Slump Leading Small to Mid-Size Companies to Put Off Expansion Plans?
Q1 2024
-
Making Hybrid More Human in 2024
Q1 2024
-
20th Annual Consultants Survey: Clients Prioritize Access to Skilled Labor, Responsive State & Local Government
Q1 2024
-
Manufacturing Momentum Is Building
Q1 2024
-
Public-Private Partnerships Incentivize Industrial Development
Q1 2024