University of California Transportation Center

This paper examines the link between highways and employment growth within two metropolitan areas. Most studies of the land use impacts of transportation focus on residential location. yet in decentralized urban areas, the relationship between the highway network and intrametropolitan employment location is an important one. This paper uses an econometric model of local employment growth to examine the effect of highways on employment changes within northern New Jersey and Orange County, California. Within both urban areas, highway proximity has a statistically significant and positive effect on employment growth. There is also evidence that other location specific amenities (such as agglomeration economies and surrounding population growth) are possibly more important for local employment growth than highway location.