Introduction

High tech transportation corridors are great for regional economic development

This research describes why creating high tech transportation corridors (HTTCs) is an important regional economic development strategy. When there is an economic downturn, cities are forced to develop a strategy to revitalize. Increasing the transfer of high technology into the marketplace stimulates the economy (Peltz, 1984). High tech industries are industries that include relatively high percentages of scientific and technical workers. Further, they are also industries that make relatively large expenditures in research and development (Luger, 1984).

“[I]n difficult economic times, political stakeholders in the technology transfer process usually view success in economic impact terms, and often from short-term and parochial perspectives-how many jobs in my state next year?” (Carr, 1994).

Examples include the expansion of the suburban space economy in the 1980s. Actually, these produced new commercial landscapes in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington D.C. They are high-tech corridors along limited-access highways (Knox, 1991). Designers used private mixed-use development master plans to create these corridors.

Economic development strategy

Notably, creating HTTCs became a very popular strategy for economic development proponents as a revitalization technique. HTTCs are typically defined as segments along U.S. interstate or state transportation routes. However, they can be located on city streets. Since transportation is the backbone of a city, town, or region, the idea is to create a cluster of high-tech companies along the transportation route. Clusters are critical masses of unusual competitive success. They are comprised of linked industries and interconnected companies, such as government institutions. Clusters “extend downstream to channels and customers and laterally to manufacturers of complementary products and to companies in industries related by skills, technologies, or common inputs” (Porter, 1998).

Summary

In reality, the decision to create a HTTC must be integrated into a community’s overall economic strategy. The planning process should identify the conditions under which specific, specialized strategies. Further, these strategies should lead to high-tech job attraction in order to produce desired benefits (Wiewel, 1984). With respect to HTTCs, the current federal transportation legislation should be amended.  Transportation planning officials should become stronger and more active partners in making development decisions. These decisions should integrate resource programs and infrastructure needs that provide for the development of equitable and sustainable HTTCs. Notably, planning for high-tech transportation corridors needs to be more transactional than infrastructural. In a cohesive policy-relevant structure, there must be a stronger nexus between socio-economic and transportation policy considerations.  In addition, transportation officials should begin to take an active role.  This may ensure that these high-tech developments are sustainable and equitable in socioeconomic terms.  Read more here…