Director and Associate Research Economist at the University of Alabama’s Center for Business and Economic Research

Samuel Addy is director and associate research economist at the University of Alabama’s Center for Business and Economic Research.  Dr. Addy works with the center’s economic research program and has overseen and conducted numerous economic impact studies for private and public clients.  He also specializes in economic and workforce development, in socioeconomic analysis for transportation and other development projects, and in environmental and climate change issues.  A native of Ghana, a country in West Africa, Dr. Addy earned degrees and worked in metallurgical and mineral engineering before turning to economics.

Question:

Norfolk Southern plans to construct an intermodal rail terminal outside Birmingham, Ala., as part of improvements to increase capacity and transit times on its Crescent Corridor, which extends from New Orleans and Memphis to northern New Jersey.  How do you view Alabama benefiting from the improved corridor?

Answer:

The Crescent Corridor project will bring clear economic and environmental benefits that will be good not only for Alabama but for the nation at large. From a big picture economic development aspect, it will provide job creation and business growth.  That’s good for the nation, and for a state like Alabama, which has a per capita income about 85 percent of the national average, expanding our jobs base and increasing economic activity are essential.  Since the recession began in December 2007, Alabama’s unemployment rate has more than tripled, from 3.3 percent to 10.9 percent, so we need projects such as the Crescent Corridor, both for the jobs it will create and for the increased tax revenue it will generate for local and state governments, and for the federal government.

Another important economic component of the Crescent Corridor has to do with relieving traffic congestion.  Since 2004, the Center for Business and Economic Research has conducted large-scale work force surveys which show that workers’ commute times and distances have been increasing.  That has coincided with worsening traffic congestion in many parts of Alabama, translating into lost productivity, as well as diminished air quality and fuel efficiency.  Currently, about a third of the congestion on interstates 20 and 59 in Alabama is attributable to freight traffic.  The Crescent Corridor will remove a lot of that existing freight, as well as future expected freight, from the highways.  As an economist, I see that improving the traffic flow, reducing congestion, and improving safety.  More broadly, it also will enhance our international competitiveness, because any time we improve our transportation system it moves us a little bit ahead.

The environmental benefits associated with the Crescent Corridor are related in large part to the fuel efficiencies achieved by reducing congestion.  There will be less fuel consumed and a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.  That means improved air quality.

I think infrastructure – transportation systems in particular – is an area we haven’t addressed fully in this country in the past two or three decades.  So people now are talking about crumbling roads and bridges and aging infrastructure.  Investing money in rail infrastructure improvements such as the Crescent Corridor is an efficient and cost-effective way to move Alabama and the country ahead.