Citation

Babcock M, Davalos J. J. Transp. Res. Forum 2004; 43(1): 55-75.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2004, Transportation Research Forum)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This study examines the economic impact of highway bypasses on small towns in Kansas. The measured impacts are: total employment of bypass towns; retail sales of the towns' travel-related businesses; employment of the towns' travel-related businesses; and the bypass town as a whole. To measure the impact of the bypasses on total employment of bypass towns, each of nine sample towns was matched with a group of control towns. Total employment of each bypass town was regressed on total employment of its control towns and a bypass dummy variable used to measure the effect of the bypass. The equations were estimated by ordinary least squares regression. The other three impacts were obtained by interviewing the owners and managers of 54 travel-related businesses located in the nine bypass towns. The statistical results are consistent with the hypothesis that the bypass did not have a statistically significant effect on total employment of the bypass towns. Survey results showed that most owners and managers of the travel-related businesses felt that the bypasses had a negative impact on their retail sales and employment, and on the town as a whole. There was a substantial variation in opinion regarding the impact of the bypass on company retail sales, employment, and on the town as a whole among the industry groups in the sample. Based on the views of the respondents, the bypasses appeared to have the greatest negative effect on sales and employment of convenience stores and motels.