| The role of state Departments of Transportation (DOT's) in institutionalizing transportation investments and multi-state economic development is important to the economic prosperity of our states and nation. As our nation enters the era of global economies, the current organizational posture of state transportation agencies makes them a viable entity to guide transportation investments and to identify and pursue multi-state economic development opportunities.;This research examines, through a national survey of state DOT's and with four targeted case studies, the role of state DOT's in fostering multi-state investment strategies. A literature search is used to identify the work that has occurred in multi-jurisdictional investment for different transportation investment categories. An extensive survey of state DOT's asked numerous questions about existing policies, priorities, practices, and institutional arrangements relating to intrastate and interstate economic development-related projects. Cast studies were conducted of the Georgia, New Jersey, Oregon, and Wisconsin DOT's. These case studies examined specific transportation investments which illustrated the dynamics of multi-state economic development. The research concludes that: (1) Even though there are no adopted state policy that relates transportation investments to multi-state economic development, transportation investments are vital resources to foster multi-state economic development provided there are some key internal institutional factors and external forces (i.e., timing, location, political support and resources, tax incentives, competitive/flexible labor force, diverse economic base, limited environmental constraints, progressive development agencies, and on) needed to be in place and working together in order to create opportunities; (2) each Department of Transportation has under its auspices an extensive transportation infrastructure system. As competition and regional economic pressures force the U.S. to better coordinate transportation investments the will enhance its competitive advantage, state Departments of Transportation are positioned financially and operationally to become important actors in implementing multi-state economic development initiatives; (3) state Departments of Transportation can serve as a catalyst that bring together several entities which complement their organizational function to coordinate the activities of both transportation investments and multi-state economic development. Additionally, they can be responsible for initiating some portions of multi-state economic development strategies; (4) most state Departments of Transportation interacted with adjacent state DOT's and their respective development agency. However, the transportation investment used for multi-state economic development will dictate to some degree the type of agency(ies) that get involved as well as the role each plays in the decision-making process; and (5) a formal, systematic examination of transportation investment programs is an important component in encouraging multi-state economic development activities. This becomes extremely important for states that uses the multi-modal planning provision outlined in the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) of 1991. |
