EPA modeled the transportation and environmental impacts of locating the same development on two sites (one infill and one suburban edge/greenfield) and then compared the results. This analysis was conducted in three regions: San Diego, California; Montgomery County, Maryland; and West Palm Beach, Florida.
The case studies in this report, The Transportation and Environmental Impacts of Infill versus Greenfield Development: A Comparative Case Study Analysis (1999), show that infill development can produce transportation, environmental, and public infrastructure cost benefits. The case studies also show that:
- Identifying public benefits from infill does not require using a particular level of travel model sophistication. The transportation effects of even moderately sized alternative development patterns were not so subtle that one needs a highly sophisticated model to identify them.
- In the right conditions, infill development can make travel more convenient by reducing travel time, lowering travel costs, and lessening congestion. Infill development can also cost significantly less, in total public dollars, in private transportation dollars, and in externalities.
- Infill development can improve community environmental quality and inputs to quality of life such as accessibility.