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Guidebook for Assessing Social & Economic Effects of Transportation Projects
Forkenbrock, D. and G. Weisbrod. NCHRP Report 456, National Academy Press. 2001.

NCHRP Report 456 Published by National Academy Press

A new book available from the National Academy Press is the Guidebook for Assessing the Social and Economic Effects of Transportation Projects, by David Forkenbrock, Director of the University of Iowa's Public Policy Center, and Glen Weisbrod, President of Economic Development Research Group. This guidebook defines 11 general types of social and economic effects and provides insights into the suitability of the methods, tools, and techniques available to assess them. It covers: safety, travel time and operating costs, transportation choice, accessibility, community cohesion, economic development, traffic noise, visual quality, property values, and distributive effects.

For each of these types of effects, the guidebook describes (1) information collection techniques, (2) analysis methods, (3) measurement and presentation guidelines, (4) assessment of the critical assumptions, strengths and limitations of each method, and (5) annotation of additional articles and books on the topic. A total of 52 different techniques are described. A companion final report provides a literature review and findings from a national survey on the use of social and economic impact methods.

You can purchase the 241-page book from the Transportation Research Board Bookstore (Specify NR456) for $63 post-paid, either (1) by telephone 202-334-3214; (2) by internet http://nationalacademies.org/trb/bookstore (specify "NR456"); or (3) by mail to TRB Publications Dept., 2101 Constitution Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20418, USA. To see an abstract of the book and additional internet ordering info, click here.

You can view or download the 241-page guidebook (NCHRP 456) for free:

Full Report -- Part 1 (pdf file, 1.5 MB)

Full Report -- Part 2 (3.33 MB) -- Note: Long Download Times

You can also view or download the companion volume, a 109-page report on literature review and survey of needs:
Literature Review and Survey of Needs, NCHRP Web Doc. 31(1.0 MB )