Rail Freight Solutions to Roadway Congestion--Final Report and Guidebook (2007)

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TRANSPORTAT ION RESEARCH BOARD WASHINGTON, D.C. 2007 www.TRB.org N A T I O N A L C O O P E R A T I V E H I G H W A Y R E S E A R C H P R O G R A M NCHRP REPORT 586 Subject Areas Planning and Administration • Highway Operations, Capacity, and Traffic Control • Rail • Freight Transportation Rail Freight Solutions to Roadway Congestion— Final Report and Guidebook Joseph Bryan GLOBAL INSIGHT, INC. Lexington, MA Glen Weisbrod ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH GROUP Boston, MA Carl D. Martland MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY Sugar Hill, NH A N D WILBUR SMITH ASSOCIATES, INC. Columbia, SC Research sponsored by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration

NATIONAL COOPERATIVE HIGHWAY RESEARCH PROGRAM Systematic, well-designed research provides the most effective approach to the solution of many problems facing highway administrators and engineers. Often, highway problems are of local interest and can best be studied by highway departments individually or in cooperation with their state universities and others. However, the accelerating growth of highway transportation develops increasingly complex problems of wide interest to highway authorities. These problems are best studied through a coordinated program of cooperative research. In recognition of these needs, the highway administrators of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials initiated in 1962 an objective national highway research program employing modern scientific techniques. 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CRP STAFF FOR NCHRP REPORT 586 Christopher W. Jenks, Director, Cooperative Research Programs Crawford F. Jencks, Deputy Director, Cooperative Research Programs Christopher J. Hedges, Senior Program Officer Eileen P. Delaney, Director of Publications Hilary Freer, Senior Editor NCHRP PROJECT 8-42 PANEL Field of Transportation Planning—Area of Forecasting Cecil Selness, Minnesota DOT, St. Paul, MN (Chair) Leo Penne, AASHTO, Washington, DC Stephen M. Anderson, Washington State DOT, Olympia, WA William R. Black, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN Steve Branscum, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, Fort Worth, TX Steven A. Brown, Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, New York, NY David L. Ganovski, Maryland DOT, Berlin, MD Richard Hollingsworth, Gateway Cities Partnership, Inc., Paramount, CA J. Reilly McCarren, Kenilworth, IL Thomas C. Messer, California DOT, Sacramento, CA Khali Persad, University of Texas–Austin, Austin, TX Rolf R. Schmitt, FHWA Liaison Elaine King, TRB Liaison C O O P E R A T I V E R E S E A R C H P R O G R A M S

This report presents guidance on evaluating the potential feasibility, cost, and benefits of investing in rail freight solutions to alleviate highway congestion from heavy truck traf- fic. An extensive research effort is documented and accompanied by a set of guidelines that present a three-phased approach to evaluating rail freight solutions: preliminary assessment, detailed analysis, and decisionmaking. This report will be useful for trans- portation planners in state and regional transportation agencies, freight planners in pri- vate transportation companies, and senior decisionmakers who control the funding and implementation of transportation investments. Interaction between rail and other modes of freight movement continues to be an issue for transportation planners. Concerns about reliability, flexibility, and timeliness have con- tributed to a decline in market share for rail freight movements (despite their role as a work- horse for international trade). On the other hand, congestion, air quality, safety, energy, and security concerns lead planners to consider rail options. There is a particular need to ana- lyze the impacts and opportunities for public investment in rail freight capacity to help miti- gate roadway congestion. Congestion in urban areas and intercity corridors is a growing concern. Truck traffic has become a significant contributor to road congestion. In addition, many planners see rail as an underutilized mode. Increasing the opportunities to move freight by rail could help decrease deterioration of existing highways, while positively affecting congestion, safety, and pollution. Federal, state, local, and private-sector transportation planners can use the prod- ucts of this research to develop cooperative relationships, which might include cost sharing in construction and operation of future facilities that include rail as a necessary component of transportation corridors. Under NCHRP Project 08-42, a research team led by Joe Bryan of Global Insight, Inc., developed a Guidebook to help assess the potential for rail freight solutions to relieve road- way congestion. The study had a number of components: a thorough review of relevant lit- erature and ongoing research, case studies where rail freight solutions have been applied to help relieve highway congestion, and examination of factors leading to the choice of freight shipping mode, as well as short- and long-term trends that affect freight flow pattern. The report provides guidance on the available sources of data that are useful for assessing rail freight solutions and develops an analysis framework for using that data to assess the rela- tive costs, benefits, and feasibility of rail freight investments. The final report includes a Guidebook that incorporates the research findings into a set of tools and methods for trans- portation planners to evaluate when it can be beneficial to invest in solutions that shift freight traffic from highways to rail. F O R E W O R D By Christopher J. Hedges Staff Officer Transportation Research Board

C O N T E N T S 1 Preface 3 Chapter 1 Introduction and Overview 3 1.1 Objective 3 1.1.1 Background 3 1.1.2 Report Goals 3 1.2 Elements of the Study 5 Chapter 2 Literature Review 5 2.1 Rail and General Freight Economics 5 2.1.1 Themes 6 2.1.2 Railroads and Economic Development 6 2.1.3 Declining Marginal Costs 6 2.1.4 Service Capabilities 7 2.1.5 Truckload Competition 8 2.1.6 Role of Technology 10 2.2 Intermodal Planning Including Truck and/or Rail Freight 11 2.3 Studies of Congestion Cost 12 2.4 Rail Relocation and Road/Rail Conflict 13 2.4.1 Rationalization of Rail Facilities 14 2.4.2 Redevelopment of Urban Rail Facilities 14 2.4.3 Location of Intermodal Terminals 15 2.4.4 Grade Crossings and Grade Separation 15 2.5 Benefit-Cost Assessment and Modeling 16 2.5.1 Examples of Intermodal Freight Planning Studies 18 2.5.2 Performance Models for Specific Types of Services 19 2.5.3 Guidebooks 21 2.6 Public-Private Partnerships 21 2.6.1 Brief History of Public-Private Relationships with Rail Industry 23 2.6.2 Intermodal Case Studies—Public-Private Partnerships 23 2.6.3 Perspective on Public-Private Investments 24 2.7 Concluding Observations 24 2.8 References 27 Chapter 3 Detailed Case Studies 27 Case Study 1: Pennsylvania Double-Stack Clearances 31 Case Study 2: Virginia I-81 Marketing Study 36 Case Study 3: The Betuweroute Freight Line—Netherlands 38 Case Study 4: Alameda Corridor 42 Case Study 5: Sheffield Flyover, Kansas City, Missouri 45 Case Study 6: Vancouver Gateway Transportation System 49 Case Study 7: Freight Rail Futures for the City of Chicago 52 Case Study 8: State Rail Access Programs

55 Case Study 9: Inland Ports 59 Additional References 60 Chapter 4 Shipper Needs and Structural Factors 60 4.1 Introduction 61 4.2 Shipper Needs 61 4.2.1 Service 62 4.2.2 Cost 63 4.2.3 Other Needs 64 4.2.4 Carrier Selection 66 4.3 Structural Factors 66 4.3.1 Access 70 4.3.2 Addressable Market 73 4.4 Market Segmentation 73 4.4.1 Demand Side 73 4.4.2 Supply Side 78 4.5 Diversion Opportunities 79 4.5.1 Railcar 80 4.5.2 Intermodal 81 4.5.3 Shorthaul Rail 84 4.6 Social and Economic Impacts of Diversion 85 4.6.1 Forms of Incremental Impact 87 4.6.2 Factors Affecting Incremental Impact 88 4.6.3 Modal Diversion Models 89 4.7 Summation 90 Chapter 5 Trends Affecting Freight Movement 90 5.1 Overview of Trends Discussion 90 5.1.1 Objective 90 5.1.2 Organization 91 5.2 Congestion Cost Trends 91 5.2.1 Road Travel Demand Continues to Increase 91 5.2.2 Rising Congestion as Supply Does Not Keep Up with Demand 91 5.2.3 Rising Cost of Congestion 92 5.2.4 Increasing Breadth of Congestion 92 5.3 Role of Trucks in Congestion 92 5.3.1 High-Volume Truck Routes 93 5.3.2 Truck Contribution to Total Congestion 93 5.4 Growth in Freight Activity Levels 94 5.4.1 Rates of Freight Growth 95 5.4.2 Mode Shifts 95 5.4.3 Shipment Value and Weight 95 5.4.4 Shipment Distance 97 5.4.5 Import and Export Shipment Patterns 97 5.5 Business Location Trends 97 5.5.1 Development of Rail and Urban Industry 98 5.5.2 Development of Highways and Dispersed Industry 100 5.5.3 Industry Examples 101 5.5.4 Land Development Trends 102 5.5.5 The Example of Chicago 103 5.6 Technology Trends

104 5.6.1 Intermodalism 104 5.6.2 Motor Carriage 104 5.6.3 Railroads 104 5.6.4 Marine 105 5.6.5 Commodities 105 5.6.6 Economy 106 5.7 Summation 107 Chapter 6 Data Sources 107 6.1 Introduction 108 6.2 Practicalities 109 6.3 Commodity Flow Data 111 6.4 Traffic Count Data 113 6.5 Commodity Characteristics 115 6.6 Maps and Inventories of Rail Infrastructure and Service 117 6.7 Railroad Engineering Cost Data 118 6.8 Shipper Characteristics and Needs—Establishment Data 119 6.9 Modal Service and Cost Parameters 121 6.10 Trend Data—Traffic and Economic Projections 122 6.11 Institutional and Privacy Factors 124 6.12 Data Environment 125 Chapter 7 Framework Structure 125 7.1 Planning Process Framework 126 7.2 Decision-Making Framework 127 7.3 Structured Sequence of Steps