The STAR Methodology for Short-Haul Transportation

This report, summary volume of a nine-volume series, describes the STAR methodology for assessing the multiple impacts on a region of various short-haul (50 to 500 miles) transportation systems, both air and ground. Developed by RAND for the Department of Transportation (DOT), the methodology systematically estimates and compares about 30 different impacts: (1) service impacts — travel times, costs, and volumes, (2) financial impacts — system investments and operator profits and taxes, (3) economic impacts — regional income and employment changes, (4) community impacts — energy, air pollution, and number of noise-annoyed households, and (5) social impacts (distribution of benefits/disbenefits by social group) — travel and noise impacts by income group. Successfully applied to California while analyzing R&D policy for DOT, the methodology can be applied, with appropriate data and preparation, to other regions and purposes. This report describes the analysis procedures, illustrating them with examples, and summarizes the contents of the eight supporting volumes.