Despite its significance and frequent mentioning in the literature, the relationship between road investment and economic development has never been clearly understood. A significant number of scholars in this field have always emphasized the need for further research to examine this complex and dynamic relationship. Historically, investment in transportation networks has played a great role in the development of cities, regions, and nations. This positive view is attributed to the indispensable role that water transportation, and then rail transport, played in the early development of Europe and the United States. In recent years, many scholars, as well as policy makers, have disputed that investment in transportation, and in particular roads, in the regions of a highly developed country like the United States will have a great impact on economic development. This disagreement and speculation about the role of transportation investment, especially roads which constitute a large portion of the transportation network, on economic development has made justification for roads funding difficult. This is coupled with the recent decline in federal funding for many civilian programs, and in particular, regional economic development program, that include investment in road systems. Furthermore, rising construction and maintenance costs for major highway systems have substantially out-paced the current funding levels. As a result of the shortage of roads funding and the lack of federal support, individual states have started to take on more responsibility for keeping their road network intact. In almost all the states in the nation, and Oregon is no exception, the state Departments of Transportation have started to use economic development as a criterion for roads funding. Therefore, it is the objective of this dissertation to examine the longitudinal impact of the various types of roads investments on economic development in Oregon in order to better understand this dynamic relationship. Total road expenditures, capital expenditures in the three types of roads (primary, secondary, and local), total maintenance expenditures, and maintenance expenditures in the three types of roads are used as a measure of road investments. Total employment to growth and employment to growth in manufacturing and service sectors are used as a measure of economic development. In order to achieve the above objective, the Granger Causality test at different level of aggregation is used to examine this relationship. First, the state as a single aggregate unit is used to examine the effect of the various road investments on the three employment to growth sectors. Second, different spatial groupings, such as Portland Metropolitan Counties vs. the rest of the state Counties, Urban Counties, vs. Rural Counties, Interstate Counties vs. Non-Interstate Counties, Coastal Counties vs. Non-Coastal Counties, and the Department of Transportation's five designated regions are used to examine this relationship. Finally, the county level as a single disaggregate unit is also used. The results highlighted the complexity of the relationship between road investments and economic development. The nature of this relationship varies from one region to another, and mainly depends on the level of aggregation in determining the direction of this relationship. At the aggregate level, the state as one geographic unit, the various road investments have a positive impact on the employment to growth in this region. In particular, total road expenditure and capital expenditure on primary and secondary roads have a one-way directional relationship runs from the various road expenditures to employment to growth, and the effect of this investment is long-term. This analysis also indicates that the different spatial groupings have demonstrated different relationships. Nevertheless, the general pattern for most spatial groupings tends to suggest either a one-way directional relationship runs from the various road expenditures to employment to growth or a bi-directional relationship. No findings support the hypothesis that employment to growth in the three economic sectors causes road expenditures, with the exception of very few cases, especially at the lower end of the analysis at the county level, where the results are highly discrepant and mixed. In addition, this research indicates that the time-lag effect measured by lag-length and accumulative lag effect changes as the level of aggregation changes. However, the general pattern seems to indicate that total road expenditures and capital expenditures for the three types of roads, particularly primary and secondary roads, have a long-term effect on employment to growth. Also, the relative magnitude effect of total road expenditures and capital expenditures on primary and secondary roads is greater on the employment to growth than is the comparable effect of maintenance expenditures in most spatial groupings. Furthermore, the effect of the various road expenditures on the type of employment (manufacturing and service) depends greatly on the level of aggregation and the type of road Investment Finally, this study provides public policy makers, transportation planners, and regional economic developers a better understanding of the complex relationship between road investment and economic development. A better understanding of this highly complex and dynamic relationship can guide decision makers to best utilize their limited resources. In addition, this research offers insight into the theories and works in the field of transportation and economic development.

Thesis: M.S., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Civil Engineering, 1975 / Bibliography: leaf 95. / M.S. / M.S. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Civil Engineering

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Although highway maps are commonly used, little research has focused on the effectiveness with which they are utilized. Route following and route planning are the two main uses of highway maps, and road symbolization is the information most desired by highway map users. Therefore, testing was conducted to determine relative effectiveness of different road symbolization systems in route following and route planning tasks. One black and white and two color road surface symbol hierarchies were employed on maps tested with 162 participants. It was hypothesized that both color hierarchies, one consisting of a part-spectral progression of hues (red-orange-yellow) and the other a full-spectral order (red-green-blue), would prove to be more effective than the black and white hierarchy, and that the part-spectral hierarchy would prove similarly superior to the full-spectral hierarchy. Overall results did not conclusively support either hypothesis. There was, however, significant variation in performance according to the purpose of use and among subgroups of the test population. These findings indicated that designing an optimal map for all purposes and map users may be an impossible task. The results also demonstrate that it is critical for the highway mapmaker to identify who will use the map he creates and the purpose(s) for which it will be consulted. / M. S.

Overtaking and passing maneuvers on two-lane rural roads is still one of the most complex situations drivers are faced with in everyday driving. In passing, drivers must judge the speed, acceleration and deceleration capabilities of their own vehicle, that of the impeding vehicle and the speed and rate of closure of the oncoming vehicle. They also have to make decisions on the adequacy of an acceptable gap and sight distance. This report presents an investigation of the adequacy of the current "Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices" (MUTCD) for marking on two-lane, two-way roads. It examines the existing criteria, problems associated with it and its reasonableness. Passing sight distances which incorporates both the option of aborting or completing the passing maneuver is presented. A model describing the kinematics of vehicle trajectories during the passing maneuver on two-lane roads is utilized for this purpose. The model is based on the presence of a delima zone during the passing maneuver. At this point, the decision to complete or abort the passing maneuver provides the same factor of safety. This critical position is located using the model. The parameters that strongly influence the required sight distance are investigated. Thus passing sight distances that will provide reasonable margin of safety throughout the passing maneuver will be achieved. It is realized from the results that the current MUTCD passing sight distance is inadequate from a safety standpoint, except for high accelerations and high decelerations. / Master of Science

Tropical regions have extensive networks of unpaved roads which can be the largest contributor of sediment loading within a watershed in terms of both sediment generation and delivery. A number of erosion and sediment prediction models have been developed for unpaved roads and applied across a wide range of locations. However, little work has been devoted to the comparison of these models or to their application in tropical environments. A 13 square kilometer mixed land use watershed in Eastern Brazil was used as a case study area for model application and comparison. Models chosen for evaluation were WEPP: Road, SEDMODL, and STJ-EROS. To determine the applicability of these models to the case study watershed, a classification system was developed to score road segments according to sediment production and delivery potential. Field observations provided data for the input parameters of the models as well as to identify which road segments appear to be high contributors of sediment within the watershed. These road segments were compared with the segments estimated by the models to have high sediment yields. The models identified less than 50% of those roads categorized by field observation as having high erosion potential. WEPP: Road matched more closely to the field observations than SEDMODL and STJ-EROS. To be useful tools for watershed management in the tropics, a unified method for calculating sediment delivery is needed as well as an adjustment to model input parameters so that they better reflect conditions in tropical watersheds. / Master of Science

The South African government has decided to introduce an extensive toll road system in the Gauteng Province, to fund the road upgrades in the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP). This research report assesses the effectiveness of this funding strategy by analysing the social, economic and environmental impact of the GFIP toll road. The user pay principle is also interrogated to assess the fairness of the toll tariffs to be levied on different user groups. This study has found that the GFIP investment was an unstrategic investment in transport infrastructure. It is proposed that an integrated multi-modal transport strategy is developed, that prioritises the development of the railway system for freight cargo and public transport. As freight vehicles cause more than 99% of roads damage, it is proposed that toll tariffs are only applied to freight vehicles, to lessen the negative social impact of tolling. It is proposed that an independent transport regulator and a consumer council are established, to protect consumer interests, to ensure the independent review of toll tariffs, and to review future public-funded transport investments.

Evidence for routes in use in the early medieval period from documents and excavations is fragmentary, and from maps is nil, but place-names help to fill the gap. Known early roads, travellers and possible origins of place-names are considered before detailed examination of the place-names that consistently occur by routeways. Ways of measuring proximity of named settlements to routeways, including the chi-squared test and dispersion graphs, are described. The place-names are considered in detail. The road terms strǣt and weg yielded useful information; pæth and stīg did not. Gewæd and gelād indicated difficult crossings; ford was too ubiquitous to be useful. Facilities available were indicated by mere-tūn and byden-welle (water supply); strǣt-tūn and calde-cot but not Coldharbour (lodgings); mōr-tūn and mersc-tūn (fodder); dræg-tun and dræg-cot (aid to travellers in difficulty); grǣfe-tūn (pay-load). Ōra and ofer, round-shouldered ridges, were used as 'signposts' at significant points on roads and waterways to indicate, inter alia, harbour entrances, cross roads and mineral deposits. Cumb-tūn, denu-tūn, ceaster and wīc-hām were easily recognised and helped travellers to identify their whereabouts. Seaways and rivers in use were highlighted by the use of port, hȳth, ēa-tūn and lād A series of these indicative names occurring along a route, usually Roman, suggests that the route was in use. Certain saltways, Gough (c. 1360) and Ogilby (1675) routes and a few others were also highlighted. Findings are summarised on the end-paper map. As a check on the results, coin-find distributions for the early eighth century and late tenth/ early eleventh century were mapped against route-ways. Routes in use from placename and coin evidence were broadly similar. Evidence from pottery scatters was difficult to assemble, and gave poorer results. The evolution of the naming system is discussed. The consistent way that widely occurring landforms and habitation types were named throughout England enables the mapping of an early medieval routeway network using place-name evidence. The appendices list and map each corpus.