Express Busways and Economic Development: Case Study of the South Miami-Dade Busway

A growing body of literature is showing important associations between several forms of fixed- guideway public transit systems and economic development. These include heavy- or fifth-rail, light rail, street car, and bus rapid transit systems. Yet, there exists no assessment of the economic development contributions of express bus service. Using the Longitudinal-Household Employment Database, the authors evaluate the change in jobs and share of jobs within 0.50 mile of the express bus stations comprising the South Miami-Dade Busway over the period 2002 through 2011. Their analytic method is shift-share analysis which compares change and share of change of jobs with respect to the central county of Miami-Dade. In addition, to control for the counter- factual -- that is, that development (or lack thereof) would have occurred anyway -- the authors devised an algorithm to identify 10 alternative locations having comparable attributes to each existing station at the beginning of their study period. They again used shift-share analysis to assess development outcomes before and after the recession with respect to these counter-factual locations and compared outcomes to Express Bus stations. They find important economic development outcomes with respect to the South Miami-Dade Busway. Planning and policy implications are offered.