Case Study:

Portland, Oregon

Application

Regional Economic Benefits

Table 3 shows the cumulative economic benefits accruing to the Portland region for each alternative, between 2000 and 2020. These benefits are the sum of the difference in annual benefits between each alternative and the base case for each year, discounted to 1992 dollars.

The economic indicators provide different estimates of the impacts of improved trucking operations on the six-county economy, and each tells a slightly different story. For example, a change in output indicates the amount of additional goods and services produced by businesses located in the six-county area, regardless of whether the business is owned by a Portland-based firm.^[1] Profits earned on output produced in the six-county area by a firm headquartered in a county outside the area, in another state, or in another country would be exported outside the region. Thus, changes in output overstate the regional economic impact of an alternative. As a more accurate - albeit conservative - estimate of economic impacts, changes in real disposable personal income are used to assess the real benefits retained within the regional economy.

Table 3. Aggregate Economic Benefits¹ for Each Alternative from 2000 to 2020

Economic Indicators	Hot Spots²	>CRC³	Freeway Capacity⁴	Freight Freeway⁵	Freight Arterial⁶
Employment (total jobs)	500	1,100	2,500	1,500	1,300
Gross Regional Product	$1	$29	$66	$39	$34
Real Disposable Personal Income	$	$23	$51	$30	$27
Output	$20	$52	$117	$67	$61
Exports to U.S. and World	$5	$13	$30	$18	$15

¹ In Millions of 1992 Dollars, discounted at seven percent.
² "Hot Spots" includes capacity expansion at I-5 bottlenecks, an LRT extension, and interchange improvements.
³ Hot Spots + additional Columbia River Crossing (CRC) lanes.
⁴ Hot Spots + CRC + reversible express lanes on CRC + additional lanes on I-5 + LRT to Vancouver.
⁵ Hot Spots + CRC + new truck-only ramps.
⁶ Hot Spots + new freight bridge (port-to-port).

Source: Cambridge Systematics, Inc.

Initial cost-benefit estimates showed mixed results in terms of the overall benefits of the various alternatives. Final results from this study were not available at the time of this writing.

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¹ The technical definition is the amount of production in dollars, including all intermediate goods purchased as well as value-added (compensation and profit). Output can also be thought of as sales. Output = self-supply + exports + intra-regional trade + exogenous production.