TRB’s Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Web-Only Document 56: Methodology for Determining the Economic Development Impacts of Transit Projects explores development of a method for transit agencies to assess whether and under what circumstances transit investments have economic benefits that are in addition to land development stimulated by travel time savings.

As part of the project a spreadsheet tool was developed that may be used to help estimate the agglomeration-related economic benefits of rail investments in the form of new systems or additions to existing systems.