What is infrastructure; State of infrastructural development; Theoretical concerns about the impact of infrastructure; Empirical studies on the impact of infrastructure; Issues of resource allocation of infrastructure.

This book makes a major contribution to the debate and is directed at researchers, decision makers and students who are interested in the wider economic development impacts of transport.

"TRB's National Cooperative Freight Research Program (NCFRP) Report 23: Synthesis of Freight Research in Urban Transportation Planning explores policies and practices for managing freight activity in metropolitan areas. The primary focus of the report is on "last-mile/first-mile" strategies, but it also addresses strategies affecting environmental issues and trading hubs or nodes. The research used to develop the report looked beyond the United States--mostly, but not exclusively' in Europe and the European BESTUFS (Best Urban Freight Solutions) program--for potentially relevant policies and practices that could be used in the United States"--Publication info.

This synthesis report will be of interest to DOT administrators, supervisors, and staff, as well as to the consultants working with them in assessing the economic development impacts of existing or proposed transportation investments. Metropolitan Planning Organization regional and local staffs might also find it informative. It is intended to help practicing planners become aware of the range of methods and analysis techniques available, organized by the different categories of agency needs, to address different types of planning, policy, and research needs. This synthesis summarizes the current state of the practice by means of a survey of transportation planning agencies in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. This report provides reviews of the analysis methods used in recent project and program evaluation reports of these agencies, in addition to a bibliography of economic literature and guides.