PORTLAND – A Chicago-based research firm has determined that the Amtrak Downeaster is more than a train ride – it’s an economic engine that will generate billions of dollars in economic impact in Maine over the next 20 years.

Patricia Quinn, executive director of the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority, which operates the Downeaster in Maine, said Monday that she had just received the new economic benefits study, which “talks about transit development associated with the Downeaster.”

“It’s pretty compelling in terms of justifying the investment in rail in Maine,” she said.

Produced by the Center for Neighborhood Technology, the study concludes that the Downeaster is a catalyst for new “transit-oriented development” projects that will have “profound long-term positive impacts on the construction, professional, service and retail industries of Maine.”

The report, titled “Amtrak Downeaster: Overview of Projected Economic Impacts,” was commissioned by the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority to identify the long-range economic impacts associated with development projects along the Downeaster’s current Boston to Portland corridor as well as the potential impacts of expanded service to Brunswick and Rockland.

The Center for Neighborhood Technology suggests that a strategy of optimizing growth in transit-oriented development built around Downeaster stations will hold several economic advantages for Maine people and communities.

A transit-oriented development area is a compact and integrated development of homes, retail and service businesses, public park space and other amenities that create an inviting atmosphere for pedestrians in the area surrounding a public transit station.

According to the center, development projects along the Downeaster corridor will generate $3.3 billion in construction investment and create more than 8,000 new jobs in Maine over the next 22 years.

“This will lead to the contribution of more than $55 million in new state tax revenues annually,” the study said. The report further predicts that new resident and business relocation associated with transit-oriented development along the Downeaster corridor will contribute nearly $1 billion in new purchasing power annually to Maine’s economy by the year 2030.

“We have the ability to connect with the Rockland branch. That’s a critical step in building a strong corridor,” Quinn said by telephone Monday.

“Once they’ve got that strong corridor in midcoast Maine, that opens up the door for us to be able to develop other services or branches off that,” she added.

The extension of service to Brunswick and Rockland would create an additional 2,582 jobs and generate an additional $16.5 million in annual tax revenues and $290 million in annual purchasing power by the year 2030, according to the study.Saco’s “Island Point” is a prime example of a Downeaster transit-oriented development project under way in Maine. The abandoned mill site was selected by investors to be the home of the $100 million project because of its location adjacent to the Downeaster station.

Also, a $20 million condominium complex and more than 800 new residential housing units have been built within two blocks of the Downeaster platform in Old Orchard Beach.

In Portland, the 30-acre site for sale adjacent to the Downeaster station on Thompson’s Point is being marketed as a transit-oriented development site.

“These developments will help Maine attract new business and contribute substantially to the tax base of state and local governments,” said the report. “National trends suggest that ‘green’ transit-oriented development sites in particular are preferred among many companies and individuals looking to invest and relocate.”

Because the sites concentrate growth in planned development centers of existing communities, they are believed to have a minimal negative impact on the natural environment and help control the costs of providing infrastructure, schools and other basic services. Such costs have been disproportionately high in Maine’s swelling suburban population, contributing to increased public-sector spending, the study pointed out.

The Center for Neighborhood Technology projects that the transit sites along the Downeaster corridor will reduce household transportation costs in Maine by $71 million annually by 2030. Because residents of these transit site neighborhoods can conveniently walk or take public transportation to their regular destinations, they spend less on gas and transportation and have more disposable income to invest in the local economy.

A complete copy of the report is available at www.amtrakdowneaster.com.

gchappell@bangordailynews.net

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