Major employment centers in suburban areas, by their nature, generate vehicle trips that impact surrounding road and signal facilities. Transportation improvements are often required to mitigate impacts, sometimes at considerable distance from the centers. Public agencies are using a variety of cost-sharing approaches that in certain cases may result in inequities, both among developers and between the developer and the public agency. For instance, a developer who triggers a threshold level for capacity improvements may be burdened with the entire cost. Other developers obtaining approvals before or after the improvement costs have been allocated may not be faced with any of these costs. Inasmuch as an equitable agreement is in the broad public interest, it is important that agencies and developers formulate rational positions and derive fair-share options.

The objective of this research was to provide information to state and local agencies, as well as developers, on the following: (1) how to select the most appropriate cost-sharing approach, (2) specific factors to be considered in allocating costs in each approach, (3) detailed cost-allocation methodologies, and (4) application guidelines. This research focused on the equitable allocation of the private sector share of transportation improvement costs among individual properties at new or expanding major suburban employment centers.

The contractor's draft final report was determined to add little value to the state of the art in cost-sharing methods. It will not be published.