HEAT
Highway Economic Analysis Tool
The Highway Economic Analysis Tool (HEAT) developed by Cambridge Systematics
enables agencies to understand the relationship between changes in highway capacity
and economic development. HEAT incorporates a broad range of quantitative metrics
to provide an objective, consistent, efficient, and accurate way to evaluate the
potential economic benefits of highway improvements.
Benefits
- The first fully integrated GIS-based highway economic impact analysis model.
Allows agencies to assess investments from project definition and travel
impacts, to economic and benefit/cost analysis, within a single software system.
- Industry-based perspective. Transportation dependence and
commodity-specific impacts for individual industries are evaluated in order to
estimate the potential economic impacts.
- Flexible linked module design. Enables agencies to customize
the analysis factors necessary to provide a thorough evaluation of their unique needs.
- Rigorous quantitative method. Data results answer often asked questions such as: How many jobs will this new highway create? Will economic benefits exceed costs?
Features
- Roadway network model. GIS framework represents the transportation
network for improvement projects in order to determine the traffic impacts.
- Travel performance impacts. Traditional metrics such as
travel time savings and reductions in operating costs are combined with measures
of accessibility to markets (e.g., change in access to labor within a one hour
drive) and user reliability (e.g., reduction in unexpected delay).
- Commodity flow database. Seven truck categories are used to
measure which, and to what extent, commodities are affected by highway improvements
in order to link travel performance impacts to industry effects.
- Industry analysis. Three types of direct economic benefits
estimated: 1) business cost reductions; 2) net business attraction/retention;
and 3) visitor/tourism spending effects.
- Multi-region economic impact model. Regional economic simulation
model estimates gross state product, employment, and personal income results to
determine the total economic benefit.
- Cost estimation tool. Provides a consistent method of estimating
the capital and operating cost of highway improvements.
- Benefit/cost analysis. Incorporates a comprehensive economic
development-based benefit/cost methodology.
HEAT Implementations
HEAT provides detailed data and comprehensive results to help your agency quantify the potential economic benefits of transportation improvements. Cambridge Systematics will work closely with you to deliver an economic analysis tool that meets your unique needs and work.
The HEAT model was presented at the March 2006 International Transportation and Economic Development Conference co-sponsored by The Transportation Research Board. HEAT was originally developed by Cambridge Systematics for the Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) to evaluate the economic impacts of reconfiguring and adding capacity to Montana’s highway corridors. Currently, MDT operates their version of HEAT in-house to help prioritize statewide highway investment decisions. View the MDT Reconfiguration Study Project Summary and Final Report. A customized version of HEAT also has been developed for the Georgia Department of Transportation and the HEAT modeling framework currently is being used to asses the economic impacts of completing the multi-state, multi-billion dollar Appalachian Development Highway System.
Additional Information
For additional information, contact Christopher Wornum of Cambridge Systematics at 510-873-8700.
