Economic Enhancement through Infrastructure Stewardship Oklahoma’s Transportation Infrastructure: Inventory and Impacts

DISCLAIMER The contents of this report reflect the views of the authors, who are responsible for the facts and accuracy of the information presented herein. This document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the Department of Transportation University Transportation Centers Program, in the interest of information exchange. The U.S. Government assumes no liability for the contents or use thereof. 16. ABSTRACT This project comprehensively analyzed Oklahoma's transportation infrastructure and its impact on the state's economy via network analysis techniques that are widely used in and outside geography. The focus was on the context, connectivity, and condition of the state's transportation system. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) both organized and stored a large transportation infrastructure database and served as an analytical platform. This project assessed comparable data (e.g. road and rail networks, highway and bridge conditions) for Oklahoma and its neighbors to determine the state's comparative transportation advantages and disadvantages, permitting a detailed analysis of the state's regional transportation competitiveness. Deliverables included: (1) a comprehensive transportation inventory for Oklahoma and three of its neighbors, (2) a GIS database with the states' highway and other appropriate networks, linked with socioeconomic and business data to permit further research by other interested parties, (3) a statistical analysis measuring the impacts of transportation in the four states, and (4) a comprehensive report summarizing the data and methods used, the analyzes of the context, connectivity, and condition of the states' transportation networks, and the overall results from the project. Deliverables 1 and 2 are accessible online through a project web page at