Ranking: 10 Most Valuable Major Interstate Highways, 2022 (food, activity, business)

[18Montclair]

Originally Posted by mhays25

Funny headline for something that's only "trade related activity."

I just copied it ver batim from the source.

[ram2]

Originally Posted by FL_Expert

I-75 is N-S too though… I’m not clear how I-75 can be worth more than I-95 to be honest. It’s Detroit, Cincinnati, Atlanta, Tampa, and Miami vs Boston, NYC, Philly, Baltimore, DC, Richmond, Jacksonville, and Miami. Plus all the port traffic from GA/SC.

I-75 also includes freight from Canada, since the Detroit/Windsor, Ontario border crossing is the busiest US/Canada border crossing.

[paytonc]

The original paper:
https://www.nber.org/system/files/wo...938/w27938.pdf
As mentioned above, it's based on a counterfactual: if this particular Interstate highway did not exist, how much traded production would disappear? Hence the most valuable per mile are often "NAFTA highways" that run north-south between Canada and Mexico, or transcontinental routes that end at ports.

[TacoSoup]

Originally Posted by 18Montclair

This doesn't include any arterials like the 405 or the 110, but rather just the major Interstates themselves.

Most Valuable Major Interstate Highways, 2022
1 Interstate 80....$63.9B
2 Interstate 70....$49.4B
3 Interstate 75....$49.3B
4 Interstate 10....$47.4B
5 Interstate 90....$46.7B
6 Interstate 95....$38.5B
7 Interstate 5......$32.5B
8 Interstate 35....$28.0B
9 Interstate 40....$14.7B
10 Interstate 15..$10.9B

*Ranked by value of trade-related activity generated annually

https://www.washingtonpost.com/busin...gn=wp_business

The only thing wrong with this list is Interstate 10,5, and 15 should be listed as the 10, the 5, and the 15

[18Montclair]

Originally Posted by TacoSoup

The only thing wrong with this list is Interstate 10,5, and 15 should be listed as the 10, the 5, and the 15

Basically. #SoCal

[mike0421]

Of the Interstates listed, the only two that traverse the USA from Canada to Mexico are I-5 and I-35. I wonder why those two didn't rank higher.

[cwkimbro]

Originally Posted by mike0421

Of the Interstates listed, the only two that traverse the USA from Canada to Mexico are I-5 and I-35. I wonder why those two didn't rank higher.

Seems pretty obvious, tbh.

It doesn’t matter if a single freeway connects 3 countries or a combination of 2 or 3 freeways used together. Freight is going to flow between producers and consumers of products. I-35 stops short of Canadá, but it’s in the middle of nowhere. Freight to/from Canadá is going to go northeastward towards the populated center of Canadá. Most enters close to Detroit where most of Canada’s population lives towards Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal.

Vancouver and Victoria are destinations in their own right, but that region isn’t very populated overall. BC is only 5 million people, despite being as large as it is.

Also, remember Canadá is only 38 million people, about 1/10th the size of the US. That isn’t going to drive demand beyond our own internal freight flows.

[GTB365]

Originally Posted by cwkimbro

Seems pretty obvious, tbh.

It doesn’t matter if a single freeway connects 3 countries or a combination of 2 or 3 freeways used together. Freight is going to flow between producers and consumers of products. I-35 stops short of Canadá, but it’s in the middle of nowhere. Freight to/from Canadá is going to go northeastward towards the populated center of Canadá. Most enters close to Detroit where most of Canada’s population lives towards Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal.

Vancouver and Victoria are destinations in their own right, but that region isn’t very populated overall. BC is only 5 million people, despite being as large as it is.

Also, remember Canadá is only 38 million people, about 1/10th the size of the US. That isn’t going to drive demand beyond our own internal freight flows.

Correct. Though technically it is 1/9th...not 10th the size.
Canada has a much lower population than Mexico to but
punches about it's weight...
2021 US imports...$541 billion China ...then Mexico $ 388 billion
Canada $363 billion ...good enough for 3rd place...
Canada has slipped in recents years from first to third.
Japan ...a distant 4th place at $139 billion

Bulk of Canada's population and industry is in Ontario and Quebec....
Ontario population is almost 15 million ...Quebec is over 8 million...
combined population about 23 million...
and as mentioned before...bulk of trade between Canada and US is via Detroit
and helps I-75 stats.

[midwest1]

Originally Posted by FL_Expert

I-75 is N-S too though… I’m not clear how I-75 can be worth more than I-95 to be honest. It’s Detroit, Cincinnati, Atlanta, Tampa, and Miami vs Boston, NYC, Philly, Baltimore, DC, Richmond, Jacksonville, and Miami. Plus all the port traffic from GA/SC.

Add Flint, Toledo, Dayton, Hamilton/Middletown, Lexington, Knoxville, Chattanooga, Macon, Lake City, St. Petersburg, Cape Coral/Naples to I-75.

[Achilles765]

Interstate 10 makes sense: LA, Phoenix, Houston, the petrochemical industries from Houston to New Orleans, the fact that it connects major tourist destinations like LA, San Antonio, New Orleans, the gulf coast; and the major ports at LA, Houston, Baton Rouge, NOLA, and Jacksonville.
But I may be biased as I’ve lived my entire life no farther than 60 miles from interstate 10…and my entire adult life in cities along it. I’m less than a mile from it right now.