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Least Cost Planning: Improving Identification and Implementation of Urban Transportation Investments that Maximize Economic Development

The distinction between economic growth and economic development is especially important in terms of long-term economic policy decisions. While economic growth generally places emphasis on increasing output through replication of productive means, economic development tends to place emphasis on increasing output through structural transformation. Similarly, it is argued that the transportation industry, which has in the past experienced a tremendous growth in road miles between urban areas, has reached a stage where other transportation alternatives and measurement approaches require serious consideration. Unlike the traditional transportation decisions which tended to emphasize growth-oriented approaches for inter-urban connection and relied on capacity building analytical tools, the current already built intra-urban connections demand developmentoriented approaches and appropriately sensitive analytical tools. The 1991 Inter-modal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act is especially significant in that it marked the completion of the National Interstate and Defense Highway System era which tended to emphasize road capacity building and ushered in one which emphasized a multi-modal and capacity management approach, including Transportation Demand Management (TDM). However, to further the process of economic development, transportation investment decisions need to take this consideration into account, including developing analytical processes to support decisions. This study reviews the nature of economic development as it relates to changes in the transportation industry, the diminishing marginal returns from capacity building and the suitability of using Least Cost Planning (LCP) for analyzing capacity management and transportation investment decisions at a conceptual level. The study includes 1) a review of literature on the dilemma of capacity expansion versus capacity management, 2) an exploration of the relationship between developments in the transportation planning process and the nature of economic growth and development, 3) a discussion of the importance of applying the LCP approach in transportation planning analysis, and 4) discussion of the implications of the LCP planning process on economic development.