Project

Hampton Roads Regional Connector Study

EBP is leading the economic components of the Hampton Roads Regional Connector Study planning for potential new harbor crossings in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia.

EBP is working as part of a team led by Michael Baker International to implement a scenario planning process combined with detailed alternatives analysis to identify those cross-harbor projects that are most resilient to multiple potential economic, demographic, land use, and technology futures.

As part of the scenario planning team, EBP was tasked with developing economic drivers of regional growth, land use, and travel. This included special consideration of trade trends and mode share for the Port of Virginia. We then evaluated the relative transportation efficiency of each of four future scenarios in terms of serving both regional and cross-harbor travel. Our team processed outputs from the region’s travel model and used the TREDIS economic model to assess changes between scenarios in total societal costs of travel and in regional economic activity. This included including development of new economic model parameters to address a future with increased autonomous ridesharing.

In a second phase of work now underway, EBP will evaluate each proposed regional connector project alternative’s likely contribution to economic growth, under alternative future scenarios. This will support a resilience test to determine which alternative is best able to help the region thrive under a variety of land use, economic, and technology futures.

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