Transport and the economy: how much do we really know?

Economic growth is often the key justification for major transport projects. But how much do we know about the contribution transport improvements make to the economy? A new report for the National Infrastructure Commission describes the current state of understanding, and estimates the impact of faster inter-city links between the North’s big cities

Andrew Forster

15 April 2016

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Economic growth estimates are important pieces of evidence for transport scheme promoters in the battle to win support and funding for projects. But how much confidence can we have in the cited figures? The methodologies for producing the estimates are usually buried away in technical reports and can be hard for anyone other than modelling and appraisal experts to understand.

Help is now at hand, however, in the form of a report from the Government’s National Infrastructure...