Effects of Impact Fee in Urban Form and Congestion in Florida for Period 4/1/2010 to 11/30/2011.

摘要

This study analyzes the effect of impact fees in urban form and congestion through a combination of methods including econometric analysis, GIS techniques, and interviews with planning officials. The results show that there is some evidence that impact fees might be reducing congestion by creating disincentives for overall development and job creation. However, direct evidence of a negative effect of impact fees in development and job growth was not found. There is no evidence that the difference of impact fees between central cities and outer areas is sufficient to promote more compact urban form. Likewise, there is no evidence that more road impact fees are decreasing congestion through more investment in infrastructure. This might be because impact fees usually finance local roads but congestion is concentrated in freeways and arterials, or because there is a spatial, temporal or financial mismatch between impact fee revenues and the costs of infrastructure. There is a clear, significant and substantial positive relationship between density and congestion suggesting a weak increase in transit use in denser environments or a potential increase in automotive travel through higher trip frequency. However, other urban form variables related to the distribution of that density have a negative effect in congestion indicating that certain urban configurations could decrease congestion. Finally, changes in congestion are negatively correlated with the congestion levels at the beginning of the period suggesting that congestion is increasing faster in those areas that used to be less congested.