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Abstract
This paper proposes a method for calculating both the direct freight benefits and the larger
economic impacts of transportation projects. The identified direct freight benefits included in the
methodology are travel time savings, operating cost savings, and environmental impacts. These are
estimated using regional travel demand models (TDM) and additional factors. Economic impacts
are estimated using a regional Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model. The total project
impacts are estimated combining the outputs of the transportation model and an economic model. A
Washington State highway widening project is used as a case study to demonstrate the method. The
proposed method is transparent and can be used to identify freight specific benefits and generated
impacts.