Transportation

Freight movement is an important industry in Illinois. The amount of tonnage
within, from, to and through puts Illinois third among the states in freight activity.
Illinois is third in trucking and rail volume and second in rail intermodal traffic.
Illinois has a key role in serving as a freight transportation hub, as all seven
Class 1 railroads have a presence in the state, with six having termini in the
metropolitan Chicago region.
Trucks are expected to remain as the primary mode for moving goods through
2040, growing to carry 67 percent of all traffic and handling more than 1.1 billion
in freight tonnage. Trucks carry the majority of the intrastate freight resulting in
high volumes of truck traffic on I-55, I-57 and I-88. Other key corridors are I-70
and I-80 for through traffic or shipments in and out of the State.
Trucks carry a wide variety of commodities and are most often used for valuable,
time sensitive items. By contrast, rail and water tend to be used for lower
value, time-independent goods.
Railroads play an important role in freight movement in Illinois. Total tonnage
in 2010 carried by rail was estimated at more than 190 million tons, most of it
coal, mixed or unknown freight in intermodal containers, and farm products.
By 2040, rail tonnage is expected to
increase by 25 percent, to just more
than 400 million tons.
The 1,095 miles of navigable
water-ways in Illinois are used
primarily for shipments of agricultural
products, coal, chemicals
petroleum products and sand and
gravel. In 2010, freight shipments
by water from other States to
Illinois were estimated at 16.7 million tons; shipments from Illinois to other
States neared 80.3 million tons; and within Illinois, waterborne shipments
totaled slightly less than 11 million tons. For 2040, forecasts predict that freight
traffic on Illinois waterways will grow ten percent, with existing commodities
remaining as the core shipments.
Air cargo traffic has the smallest share of freight traffic, carrying about
one-tenth of one percent of all freight volume in Illinois. Air cargo is highly
dependent upon global industrial production, so the 2009 decline in world
economies affected a corresponding decrease in national air cargo traffic.
O’Hare International and Chicago/Rockford International both saw declines
in air cargo volume. However, air cargo shipments are again rising, with the
largest increase in international traffic.
The FAA’s forecast for the 20-year period (2012 to 2032) anticipates domestic
cargo activity to increase at an average annual rate of 1.8 percent, and that
international cargo will grow 5.7 percent annually. Air cargo is usually high
value, low weight and time sensitive; in 2010 and in the future, the main
commodities to be shipped by air include paper or allied products, motor
vehicles (production parts), mixed freight and machinery and parts.
Challenges
Safety
Since the late 1990s, national transportation policies have required transportation
plans and programs to more directly address improved traffic safety at
the state and metropolitan levels. Based on federal requirements, states must
develop safety plans that include direct measures of safety, along with data
collection, analytical methods, performance monitoring, and decision collaboration
traditionally involved in the transportation planning process.
26 | Illinois State Transportation Plan 2012 Transforming Transportation for Tomorrow | 27