- Transit capital investment is a significant source of job creation. This analysis indicates that in the year following the investment 314 jobs are created for each $10 million invested in transit capital funding.
- Transit operations spending provides a direct infusion to the local economy. Over 570 jobs are created for each $10 million invested in the short run.
- Businesses would realize a gain in sales 3 times the public sector investment in transit capital; a $10 million investment results in a $30 million gain in sales.
- Businesses benefit as well from transit operations spending, with a $32 million increase in business sales for each $10 million in transit operations spending.
- The additional economic benefits from the transportation impacts of transit investment in major metropolitan areas are substantial. For every $10 million invested, over $15 million is saved in transportation costs to both highway and transit users. These costs include operating costs, fuel costs, and congestion costs.
- Business output and personal income are positively impacted by transit investment, growing rapidly over time. These transportation user impacts create savings to business operations, and increase the overall efficiency of the economy, positively affecting business sales and household incomes. A sustained program of transit capitalinvestment will generate an increase of $2 million in business output and $0.8 million in personal income for each $10 million in the short run (during year one). In the long term (during year 20), these benefits increase to $31 million and $18 million for business output and personal income respectively.
- Transit capital and operating investment generates personal income and business profits that produce positive fiscal impacts. On average, a typical state/local government could realize a 4 to 16 percent gain in revenues due to the increases in income and employment generated by investments in transit.
- Additional economic benefits which would improve the assessment of transit's economic impact are difficult to quantify and require a different analytical methodology from that employed in this report. They include "quality of life" benefits, changes in land use, social welfare benefits and reductions in the cost of other public sector functions.
