Transportation Economic Development Impact System (TREDIS) is an economic analysis system sold by consulting firm Economic Development Research Group that is used in planning major transportation investments in the US and Canada. The role of economic impact analysis and TREDIS in the transportation planning process is explained in guidebooks of the US Department of Transportation and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. A Guide to State DOT Consideration of Economic Development Potential in Planning, ICF Consulting for the AASHTO Standing Committee on Planning, NCHRP 8-36-60, March 2007 Best Practices in Using Programmatic Strategies in Statewide Transportation Plans, Wilbur Smith Associates for AASHTO, NCHRP Project 8-36-67, 2007 Return on Investment on Freight Rail Capacity Improvement, Cambridge Systematics for AASHTO, NCHRP Project 8-36-43, 2005 Guide to Quantifying the Economic Impacts of Freight Projects, US Department of Transportation, 2006
TREDIS has been most commonly used for assessing the expected economic impacts of statewide highway programs, The Cost of Highway Limitations and Traffic Delay to Oregon's Economy, Oregon Business Council, 2007 regional multi-modal plans The Cost of Congestion to the Economy of the Portland Region, Portland Metro, 2005 and public transport investment. Time is Money: The Economic Benefits of Transit Investment, Chicago Metropolis 2020, 2008 Its history and theoretical foundation are explained in peer reviewed journal articles. Weisbrod, G. "Models to predict the economic development impact of transportation projects," Annals of Regional Science, Volume 42, Number 3 / September 2008 Alstadt, B. “A Generalized Approach for Assessing the Direct User Impacts of Transportation Projects,” Transportation Research Board, Annual Conference Proceedings, January 2008
How It Works TREDIS has a series of modules that calculate different forms of impacts and benefits. One module is an accounting framework that calculates user benefits, including impacts on cargo transportation and commuting costs, based on transportation forecasting results. A second module calculates wider economic development benefits, including impacts on business productivity, economic development and multiplier effects from the input-output analysis. It applies an economic model to estimate impacts on jobs, income, gross regional product and business output, by sector of the economy. A third module applies cost-benefit analysis from alternative perspectives.
References
See also Transport Economic impact analysis Cost-benefit analysis Input-output analysis