By Economic Development Research Group and Goody Clancy Engineering, for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Transportation, 2008  

Restoring commuter rail service to points south of the Greater Boston area such as Fall River and New Bedford has received funding approval, pending final environmental, engineering and economic impact review. The South Coast Commuter Rail is targeted to open in 2016.

EDR Group is developing a comparative analysis of commuter rail alternatives for the proposed New Bedford-Fall River to Boston South Coast commuter rail extension, which will restore passenger rail transportation between Boston and the cities of Fall River and New Bedford.  The purpose of this effort is to develop a comprehensive economic development and land use plan to accompany the construction of the South Coast Rail.  EDR Group's role is to develop a regional economic development perspective for the 31-community study area, including baseline economic profiles, trends and summarized growth projections.

EDR Group will apply its TREDIS model to evaluate user benefits and resulting economic development impacts for each alternative: firstly based on projected land use changes, and secondly based on a prospective "smart growth" land use scenario.  When completed, the analysis will lead to recommendations to maximize the economic development potential in the corridor, create sustainable development through land use change, and generate new revenues for corridor communities and the Commonwealth.