IRPT Members produce Impactful Study

IRPT Members produce Impactful Study:

The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) selected the Cambridge Systematics/Hanson team to conduct an assessment of the economic impact produced by Missouri’s public ports. Hanson led the port-specific commodity flow data collection effort through face-to-face interviews with each port director or designee in the State. This effort provided critical input to the team for understanding the existing and future freight market opportunities at each port.

The project consisted of evaluating the regional economic impact of the individual ports, as well as statewide impacts. Hanson assisted with the development of individual port profiles, as well as providing review and comment on the statewide analysis. Additionally, Hanson flew an UAV, or “drone,” at each port to collect updated aerial photography, which was used in individual port brochures and made available to the ports for their unrestricted use.

IRPT Members Missouri Department of Transportation and Hanson Professional services, along with Cambridge Systematics have released the findings and have the final report published on the modot.org website. The study’s key findings show how:

“Marine transportation is critical to the health of Missouri’s economy. Missouri industries including agriculture, chemical manufacturing, aggregates, and metals rely on the state’s extensive port and waterway network to receive raw materials and to move goods to market. Missouri’s 1,050 inland waterway miles ranks 10th in the United States in terms of mileage. These waterways connect the state to the entire Mississippi River system and its tributaries, including the Ohio, Tennessee, and Illinois Rivers. They also provide connections to Gulf Coast ports such as New Orleans and Mobile, providing Missouri shippers with access to global markets.”

Please access the summary report here.

Key Findings

• Nearly 4 million tons of freight was shipped through Missouri public ports in 2016, an increase of 78 percent since 2011. These commodities were valued at over $12 billion in 2016.

• Since 2014, the State of Missouri has contributed $8.7 million towards capital investment in the public port network, leading to over $18.6 million in private investment during this same period.

• Missouri’s public ports support nearly 290,000 jobs annually in the State of Missouri, resulting in nearly $15.7 billion in labor income and over $100.6 billion in annual economic activity.

• About 34 percent of Missouri’s economy and one out of every ten jobs is supported by the ports. This economic activity results in expansion of the state and local tax base, and Missouri ports give rise to more than $2.4 billion in state and local tax revenue annually.

• Missouri’s crop production, mining, and nonmetallic mineral product manufacturing industries are notably dependent on waterborne transportation in order to bring goods to market.

• Missouri’s chemical manufacturing and primary metal manufacturing sectors are notably dependent on waterborne transportation in order to receive goods for processing.