The organization for downtown Atlanta, Central Atlanta Progress, wanted to show how proposed new transit projects and a new downtown transit terminal will lead to economic impacts for downtown, and also for the surrounding city and county. The consultant team worked with the Atlanta Regional Council to obtain transportation data, which was fed into TREDIS to show how completion of the planned MMPT (multi-modal passenger terminal), amenities and related regional transit projects will generate broader economic impacts (than a base case of existing conditions). The analysis considered short-term effects of construction spending, and longer-term impacts on increasing transit ridership, reducing highway traffic congestion, and changing access to employment. Tax revenue impacts were also evaluated. The TREDIS results showed that economic growth impacts would be significant at a city and county level, as well as for downtown. Following completion of the study, decisions were made by the City and Georgia DOT to move forward with the MMPT project as a public-private partnership, and the plan is now progressing through environmental review.
