Building the Interstate Highway System created many construction jobs,
but it would be a huge mistake to interpret that employment as the
system’s contribution to the economy. Workers who drew salaries from the
construction program benefitted, but far less than the travelers and
shippers of goods who have used those facilities every day for six
decades. On a smaller scale, while the Golden Gate and San
Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridges were both built during the Great
Depression in part to create jobs, their combined value to the Bay
Area’s economy over eight decades clearly dwarfs the benefits from
initial construction jobs.
One way to judge a public investment is to determine whether or not it
generates a rate of return to society that exceeds the return earned on
other investments in the private or public sectors. Resources for
government transportation investments are ultimately drawn from citizens
and businesses through taxes or fees (like tolls), or borrowing. Had
these dollars not been collected for transportation investments, they
would have been put to other uses.
Thus, the dollars used for these
public investments constitute foregone opportunities to earn returns
through private investments in businesses, or public investments in
other programs ranging from schools to national parks. To be worthwhile
undertakings, transportation investments should demonstrate that they
raise the standard of living in the future as much, or more than,
alternative private or public sector uses of the funds. To ensure the
best use of taxpayer dollars, responsible officials should choose those
projects yielding the highest returns. Most often that means
transportation dollars should be spent on programs that most enhance
long-term economic productivity.To know more visit our site http://www.allindiayellowpage.com.