Description
TRB's National Cooperative Freight Research Program (NCFRP) Report 6: Impacts of Public Policy on the Freight Transportation System describes the numerous ways that government policy decisions can affect the freight system and, in turn, how understanding the differing concerns and priorities of governments is crucial to better consideration of the potential impacts of public policy.
The report identifies current and recent policy issues with potential freight system impacts, evaluates the magnitude of the impacts, and assesses the extent to which the impacts were unexpected.
Among the types of impacts identified are changes in costs and revenues to freight carriers and shippers, changes in freight volumes or shifts in mode, changes in freight service quality, and changes to freight system operations and safety.
Editor's Note: NCFRP Report 6 (Revised): Impacts of Public Policy on the Freight Transportation System replaces NCFRP Report 6 of the same title, previously distributed. Revisions have been made to two sections of the report, as follows:
• The section on "Truck Size and Weight Rules," in Chapter 4, has been corrected and updated.
• The second paragraph of "Operations and Maintenance Policy," in Chapter 6 under Summary Discussion, has been revised.
