The Northeast Corridor (NEC) is a vital transportation artery spanning 450 miles, connecting major cities from Boston to Washington, DC. The Northeast Corridor Commission (“the Commission”) is an 18-member organization authorized by Congress to promote collaborative regional planning, develop strategies to stabilize the corridor, increase access to underserved communities, and establish a foundation for future growth. In order for the NEC to continue serving its millions of riders with high-performing, reliable rail transit, especially in the face of climate change, the Commission has planned for hundreds of service improvements and maintenance construction projects over the next fifteen years. The Commission needs to quantify and spatially locate the impacts of these projects so that they can make informed investment prioritization and workforce development decisions. They also need this complex data packaged in a concise, accessible document so that municipalities and the public are aware of the investments and economic opportunities.

In July 2021, the Commission released its most ambitious report outlining these infrastructure investments – CONNECT NEC 2035. The Commission hired Karp Strategies, working with Arup, to support the first update to the plan, CONNECT NEC 2037, which will guide capital investment decisions for the NEC through research and analysis of travel demand and economic impacts. Karp Strategies specifically is leading the economic impact analysis for the report, quantifying the estimated value and earnings of the construction jobs created from the over 300 rail infrastructure projects. Karp Strategies further grounds these economic impacts with additional social impact analysis, highlighting investments that will support long-term resiliency efforts and foster economic development and job creation in traditionally underserved communities.

Karp Strategies completed this complex economic analysis using Lightcast, an input-output model to assess multiregional impact between industries and regions. This analysis quantified the direct, indirect, and induced jobs and spending, as well as multi-industry, multi-geography interdependencies, to position the Commission to assess the broader economic consequences of investment projects. Karp Strategies is also dedicated to transparency and accessibility in our data delivery; by clearly outlining our methodology and assumptions, Arup and the Commission are positioned to use the data following Karp Strategies' project completion. The Commission will use the NEC 37 economic analysis to guide project prioritization and workforce decisions and utilize the public-facing report to increase transparency and trust in the Commission, Amtrak, and other commuter rail operators.