The Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute conducted this report for the North Dakota Legislative Council to demonstrate improvements to the state’s transportation infrastructure that would better support the business climate and the economic development of the state. The study focuses on the expansion of the sale of goods to markets outside the state through strengthening the transportation infrastructure within the state. The REMI TranSight model was used in conjunction with another software to provide a broad scope of the impacts of North Dakota’s transportation system.
The REMI analysis examined the effects of reducing the budget. The areas of interest were improvement cost, maintenance cost, vehicle-operating cost, safety cost, emission cost, travel time, and hours of delay, ultimately resulting in a reduction in the gross regional product (GRP).
Additionally, the REMI TranSight model evaluated the costs and benefits of the Rail Freight Service on the overall economy. When grain is transshipped from the branch line to the mainline, the model depicted an increase in agricultural transportation and grain handling cost to be roughly $30.9 million whereas if farmers utilize the mainline, directly, the economic impact to the state is estimated at $20.2 million.
