Answer: The expansion of the United States has had a significant impact on the country’s transportation infrastructure and economy. The development of the 48,000-mile Interstate Highway System has been a driving factor in a 340 percent growth in the nation’s gross domestic product over the past 65 years. Increased investment in public transportation can lead to significant economic growth, as a consequence of both the short-term stimulus impact of public transportation outlays and a longer-term, cumulative impact on economic productivity.
In the 19th century, the construction of roads, canals, and railways in the United States accelerated the rise of the massive American economy. These investments in infrastructure, often described as “internal improvements” in the political debate of the time, rapidly transformed the North American continent into a patchwork of overland roads, canals, and railways. These expanded transport links laid the foundation of a bustling nationwide economy of commercial agriculture and industry.
However, it is difficult to predict the exact impact of future expansion on the economy and transportation.