Synopsis
The Economics of Transportation Systems: A Reference for Practitioners is a comprehensive guide to economic principles and analysis methods designed with the practicing engineer in mind. Unlike traditional economics texts which focus heavily on economic theory, this Reference illustrates economic concepts through transportation applications and case studies, covering a wide range of topics including: • Transportation costs and benefits • Transportation pricing • Regulation and competition • Location choices, land values, wages, and economic development • Investment and financing • Project evaluation • Economic impact analysis • Econometric data analysis The Reference is concisely tailored for busy professionals seeking an understanding of economics principles specifically within the transportation context. Due to a variety of time and data constraints, many transportation practitioners’ decision-making processes are not formally documented and emerge via “engineering judgment.” However casual in nature, the wisdom behind such judgment comes from past experiences and is rooted in economic considerations and consequences. From travel time savings to job creation (both direct and indirect), income growth to property value changes, motor vehicle crashes to air quality and noise impacts, and microeconomic choices to macroeconomic shifts, transportation policies and investments carry great weight. Where formally assembled data is available, economic analysis tools allow decision-makers to comprehensively evaluate projects. For large projects with significant costs and many others closely scrutinized by the public, practitioners feel more confident about decisions with backed by thorough quantitative analysis. Even when data are lacking and/or decision impacts are minor, a basic understanding of various economic principles will aid transportation professionals in anticipating the direction and general magnitude of project (and policy) effects. Such understanding helps identify key project impacts and leads to more educated and robust decision-making. This Reference is designed to introduce transportation practitioners to the underlying economic realities of their profession. Ultimately, good engineering judgment, which is vital to defensible and optimal decision-making, relies in large part on good economic judgment. A digital version of this publication can be found for free here: http://www.caee.utexas.edu/prof/kockelman/TransportationEconomics_Website/TranspEconReference.pdf
About the Author
Dr. Kara Kockelman, P.E., is a Professor of Transportation Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin (U.T. Austin) and holds a PhD, MS, and BS in civil engineering, a Master’s of City Planning, and minors in economics from U.C. Berkeley. Her research emphasizes the statistical modeling of traveler behaviors and urban systems to anticipate the economic and other impacts of different transport investments, policies and practices. She teaches courses in transport economics, transport data acquisition and analysis, probability and statistics, and the design of ground-based transportation systems. She is an author of over 100 peer-reviewed papers and over 50 technical reports, with more information provided at http://www.caee.utexas.edu/prof/kockelman/public_html/resume.pdf. Ms. T. Donna Chen, P.E., is a Ph.D. candidate in Transportation Engineering at U.T. Austin’s Department of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering and holds a ME in civil engineering from U.T. Arlington and a BS in civil engineering from Texas A&M University. She has conducted research in the areas of transportation economics, transportation energy, traveler behavior, and safety, and has instructed college-level courses in statics and dynamics. She has worked for HNTB Corporation, AECOM, and the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department in areas of project cost estimation, roadway design and operations. Dr. Katie A. Larsen, E.I.T., is a post-doctoral researcher with the Center for Transportation Research at U.T. Austin, where she earned a PhD and MS in civil engineering and an MS in community and regional planning. She has undergraduate degrees in biology (Texas A&M) and chemistry (U.T. Austin), and a Texas science teaching certificate as part of U.T. Austin’s UTeach teacher training program. Her research emphasizes high-speed passenger rail, bicycling, neighborhood electric vehicles, and the economic impact of freight investments. Mr. Brice G. Nichols is a graduate student researcher in U.T. Austin’s Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering. He has been involved in a wide variety of research projects, helping develop the Project Evaluation Toolkit for sketch-level demand modeling and comprehensive transportation project and policy evaluations, along with a tool for life-cycle analysis of different land use patterns’ energy and emissions impacts. He holds a B.S. in civil engineering from Texas A&M University.
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