Short Line Rail: Its Role in Intermodalism and Distribution

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Prologue The Freight and Maritime Program (FMP), within the Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation at Rutgers University, has identified freight transportation congestion issues as a key research area that it is addressing. Freight transportation congestion manifests itself in ports, border crossings and in and around metropolitan areas. At the initiation of the research reported in this document, a new administration was seeking ways to jump-start the economy with “shovel-ready” projects – many addressing transportation infrastructure issues. This report focuses upon truck congestion in, through and around metropolitan areas because there are currently Federal and State proposals, in the amounts of billions of dollars that seek to mitigate such congestion issues. FMP believes there is a pressing need to identify alternatives to the most common remedies that have been historically tried, e.g., interchange improvements, lane additions, ramp metering, etc. In the opinion of FMP researchers, short line and regional railroads may offer, in certain metropolitan areas, significant opportunities for reducing truck congestion. At the same time, port and border crossing congestion has been identified as a key problem. FMP intends to address this area in another project. Because truck congestion in metropolitan areas is such a large and complex issue – over 111 centuries of annual truck delay in 20+ metropolitan areas in 2004 alone – this report identifies a variety of factors that drive the demand for freight, the impacts of truck traffic, the types of planning models and processes currently in use to address these issues and future trends – both nationally and globally that will impact on freight transportation in the U.S. At the same time the report tries to identify solutions, some longer-term and some very near-term (shovel-ready), that short line and regional railroads could potentially test in pilot projects. Given this focus, the report mainly provides high-level discussions of the many issues involved in solving truck congestion in metropolitan areas. It does not attempt to address concepts already applied in supply chain management (inventory in motion, vendor managed inventory, etc.). Nor does it go into any detailed exposition of rail/road ramp operations and the research that has been undertaken in this area with regard to intermodal operations. The report does indentify several areas for further research – beyond the proposed pilot projects – that can become key research foci for FMP going forward. These areas are summarized in the final chapter. 7
Summary Freight transportation has a dominant influence in our economy. The freight transportation industry is complex. There are multiple firms and agents, often with conflicting objectives and motives that interact in attempts to maximize or minimize some particular set of objectives. In addition, transportation infrastructure requires huge capital investments, and frequently has significant implementation delays. Further, there is stiff competition among the different players in the freight industry. Meeting America’s surface transportation needs for the future will require a strategy that goes beyond just “more of the same.” It requires a multi-modal approach, which preserves what has been built to date, improves system performance, and adds substantial capacity to highways, transit, freight rail, intercity passenger rail, and better connections to ports, airports, and border crossings. Further, meeting America’s surface transportation needs will also require solutions that go beyond transportation improvements and include policies addressing land use, energy, global climate change, the environment, and community quality of life. We argue that it is imperative to develop and implement accurate tools for planning, operation and control in the freight industry, and its various components, so as to improve the cost-effectiveness and efficiency of the economy in the U.S. and mitigate negative environmental consequences. To do this, it is necessary to address the freight transportation industry as a component of the transportation system within the U.S., and to view the various components within that system – and its environment – as linked and interacting in ways not currently captured by any planning, decision-making or policy mechanisms employed today. In this report, our concern is addressing freight transportation into, out of and through metropolitan areas, specifically congested metropolitan areas. The report seeks to identify opportunities wherein freight rail, specifically short line and regional railroads operating “within the belt” of metropolitan areas may become part of the solution to the ever increasing congestion problems facing the U.S. The focus here is on short lines and regional railroads that are currently operating in metropolitan areas that have been identified as having significant truck freight bottleneck issues. There are over 20 such metropolitan areas in the U.S. In this analysis, only metropolitan areas having three or more interchange bottlenecks, totaling more than 1 million hours of annual delay, are considered. For purposes of this study, we focus only on areas with multiple bottlenecks as these are less likely to yield to traditional interchange or roadway improvements. In 2004, these metropolitan bottlenecks resulted in almost 100 million hours of delay for truck-hauled freight – that is the equivalent of over 4 million days of delay or more than 11 thousand years, i.e., more than 111 centuries of delay in one year. Four metropolitan areas – Chicago, Miami, New York-Northeastern NJ and Portland, OR are used to illustrate the range of operating conditions, customers and potential 8
Page 1 and 2: Short Line Rail: Its Role in Interm
Page 3 and 4: 1. Report No. 2. Government Accessi
Page 5 and 6: TABLE OF CONTENTS Page List of Tabl
Page 7 and 8: Table 6.6: Interim Projections: Per
Page 9: Figure 6.9: Percent of Population L
Page 13 and 14: half million. If that growth rate c
Page 15 and 16: Project Purpose Chapter 1: Introduc
Page 17 and 18: Further, meeting America’s surfac
Page 19 and 20: some short lines controlled by gove
Page 21 and 22: through abandonment or sale (For mo
Page 23 and 24: impact on hundreds of communities h
Page 25 and 26: I-20 I-20 @ Fulton Street 1,172,700
Page 27 and 28: I-75 M-39 M-39 I-96 Houston I-610 I
Page 29 and 30: New York- Northeastern NJ SR 100 I-
Page 31 and 32: I-805 I-805 @ I-15 Interchange San
Page 33 and 34: Columbus Columbus & Ohio River Rail
Page 35 and 36: Of the short line and regional carr
Page 37 and 38: Chicago SouthShore & South Bend Rai
Page 39 and 40: The FEC has 133 pound-per-yard (66
Page 41 and 42: Portland The Portland, OR-Vancouver
Page 43 and 44: Chapter 4: Forecast Freight Traffic
Page 45 and 46: movement of freight in this country
Page 47 and 48: illion tons and generating about 1.
Page 49 and 50: 31 Nonmetallic mineral products 86
Page 51 and 52: SOURCE: FHWA, 2008. U.S. Army Corps
Page 53 and 54: System (NHS) in 2002 and are expect
Page 55 and 56: Table 4.6: Share of Vehicle Miles o
Page 57 and 58: Forecast Freight Traffic Growth in
Page 59 and 60: Figure 4.8: Major Truck Routes on N
Page 61 and 62:
Chapter 5: Forecast Freight Rail Tr
Page 63 and 64:
After decades of steady decline (se
Page 65 and 66:
7 and paperboard Other prepared foo
Page 67 and 68:
containers. Trailers accounted for
Page 69 and 70:
SOURCE: U.S. DOT, 2008. Association
Page 71 and 72:
Chapter 6: Forecast Population Grow
Page 73 and 74:
Figure 6.2: Total Population by Reg
Page 75 and 76:
Source: Hobbs and Stoops, 2002 Figu
Page 77 and 78:
Figure 6.7: Percent of Total Popula
Page 79 and 80:
Increased land area, coupled with p
Page 81 and 82:
Figure 6.9: Percent of Population L
Page 83 and 84:
increase in population. Texas, Nort
Page 85 and 86:
.Nebraska 57,734 33,681 17,569 108,
Page 87 and 88:
areas described above will continue
Page 89 and 90:
at least 10,000 trucks per day, inc
Page 91 and 92:
impose an unacceptably high cost on
Page 93 and 94:
measures of congestion typically fo
Page 95 and 96:
(Note: Improved methodology and mor
Page 97 and 98:
A third factor causing trips to be
Page 99 and 100:
Another way to get more productivit
Page 101 and 102:
these options, see Still Stuck in T
Page 103 and 104:
and expertise to support the above
Page 105 and 106:
commuting and other passenger trave
Page 107 and 108:
focus is on highways, with six exis
Page 109 and 110:
Figure 7.4: Corridors of the Future
Page 111 and 112:
Because freight transportation dema
Page 113 and 114:
increasingly squeezes service from
Page 115 and 116:
will be transported and for what pr
Page 117 and 118:
As previously described, when the F
Page 119 and 120:
If the freight railroads cannot mai
Page 121 and 122:
determines to some great extent the
Page 123 and 124:
- means that, once on the move, the
Page 125 and 126:
declining to become ever more depen
Page 127 and 128:
For example, to reduce emissions an
Page 129 and 130:
Furthermore, with the issue of biod
Page 131 and 132:
climbs to the equivalent of the cur
Page 133 and 134:
from water-cooled reactors. The 4S
Page 135 and 136:
within that time period. While thes
Page 137 and 138:
“franchise” and any perceived t
Page 139 and 140:
Commission states “Federal policy
Page 141 and 142:
Chapter 11: A Role for Large-Scale
Page 143 and 144:
At the international, national and
Page 145 and 146:
eyond the shipper and carrier frame
Page 147 and 148:
planned or forecast scenarios and p
Page 149 and 150:
exogenous inputs into this model fr
Page 151 and 152:
they need better information and to
Page 153 and 154:
knowledge. It is important to know
Page 155 and 156:
Figure 11.2: “Four-Step” Proces
Page 157 and 158:
friction factor. With limited surve
Page 159 and 160:
• Truck Prohibitions - Some freew
Page 161 and 162:
Chapter 12: Freight Villages/Integr
Page 163 and 164:
Freight Villages/Integrated Logisti
Page 165 and 166:
the number of trucks coming into th
Page 167 and 168:
customers within the geographically
Page 169 and 170:
A possible solution for the second
Page 171 and 172:
The options available for the servi
Page 173 and 174:
servicing, or “passing” through
Page 175 and 176:
Shared Rights of Way The option of
Page 177 and 178:
Chapter 14: Metropolitan Area Railr
Page 179 and 180:
Figure 14.1: Regional Collaboration
Page 181 and 182:
include freight in this collaborati
Page 183 and 184:
Transportation Planning Process SOU
Page 185 and 186:
metropolitan area. For the smaller
Page 187 and 188:
areas that had three or more interc
Page 189 and 190:
Class I carriers, there are real is
Page 191 and 192:
Acknowledgements The author wishes
Page 193 and 194:
Daniel Beagan, Michael Fischer and
Page 195 and 196:
Federal Highway Administration. The
Page 197 and 198:
Paul Krugman. The Return of Depress
Page 199 and 200:
Wesley J. Reisser, “A New Tri-Pol
Page 201:
World Almanac Education Group, “W
show all

Short Line Rail: Its Role in Intermodalism and Distribution

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?