Institutional Arrangements for Freight Transportation Systems (2009)

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TRANSPORTAT ION RESEARCH BOARD WASHINGTON, D.C. 2009 www.TRB.org N A T I O N A L C O O P E R A T I V E F R E I G H T R E S E A R C H P R O G R A M NCFRP REPORT 2 Subject Areas Planning and Administration • Highway Operations, Capacity, and Traffic Control • Rail Freight Transportation • Marine Transportation Institutional Arrangements for Freight Transportation Systems CAMBRIDGE SYSTEMATICS, INC. Fort Lauderdale, FL W I T H GILL V. HICKS & ASSOCIATES, INC. Pacific Palisades, CA A N D NETWORK PUBLIC AFFAIRS, LLC Long Beach, CA Research sponsored by the Research and Innovative Technology Administration

NATIONAL COOPERATIVE FREIGHT RESEARCH PROGRAM America’s freight transportation system makes critical contributions to the nation’s economy, security, and quality of life. The freight transportation system in the United States is a complex, decentralized, and dynamic network of private and public entities, involving all modes of transportation—trucking, rail, waterways, air, and pipelines. In recent years, the demand for freight transportation service has been increasing fueled by growth in international trade; however, bottlenecks or congestion points in the system are exposing the inadequacies of current infrastructure and operations to meet the growing demand for freight. Strategic operational and investment decisions by governments at all levels will be necessary to maintain freight system performance, and will in turn require sound technical guidance based on research. The National Cooperative Freight Research Program (NCFRP) is a cooperative research program sponsored by the Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) and administered by the Transportation Research Board (TRB). The program was authorized in 2005 with the passage of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU). On September 6, 2006, a contract to begin work was executed between RITA and The National Academies. The NCFRP will carry out applied research on problems facing the freight industry that are not being adequately addressed by existing research programs. Program guidance is provided by an Oversight Committee comprised of a representative cross section of freight stakeholders appointed by the National Research Council of The National Academies. The NCFRP Oversight Committee meets annually to formulate the research program by identifying the highest priority projects and defining funding levels and expected products. Research problem statements recommending research needs for consideration by the Oversight Committee are solicited annually, but may be submitted to TRB at any time. Each selected project is assigned to a panel, appointed by TRB, which provides technical guidance and counsel throughout the life of the project. Heavy emphasis is placed on including members representing the intended users of the research products. The NCFRP will produce a series of research reports and other products such as guidebooks for practitioners. Primary emphasis will be placed on disseminating NCFRP results to the intended end-users of the research: freight shippers and carriers, service providers, suppliers, and public officials. Published reports of the NATIONAL COOPERATIVE FREIGHT RESEARCH PROGRAM are available from: Transportation Research Board Business Office 500 Fifth Street, NW Washington, DC 20001 and can be ordered through the Internet at: http://www.national-academies.org/trb/bookstore Printed in the United States of America NCFRP REPORT 2 Project NCFRP-09 ISSN 1947-5659 ISBN 978-0-309-11806-4 Library of Congress Control Number 2009938782 © 2009 National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. COPYRIGHT INFORMATION Authors herein are responsible for the authenticity of their materials and for obtaining written permissions from publishers or persons who own the copyright to any previously published or copyrighted material used herein. Cooperative Research Programs (CRP) grants permission to reproduce material in this publication for classroom and not-for-profit purposes. Permission is given with the understanding that none of the material will be used to imply TRB, AASHTO, FAA, FHWA, FMCSA, FTA, RITA, or PHMSA endorsement of a particular product, method, or practice. It is expected that those reproducing the material in this document for educational and not- for-profit uses will give appropriate acknowledgment of the source of any reprinted or reproduced material. For other uses of the material, request permission from CRP. NOTICE The project that is the subject of this report was a part of the National Cooperative Freight Research Program conducted by the Transportation Research Board with the approval of the Governing Board of the National Research Council. Such approval reflects the Governing Board’s judgment that the program concerned is of national importance and appropriate with respect to both the purposes and resources of the National Research Council. The members of the technical committee selected to monitor this project and to review this report were chosen for recognized scholarly competence and with due consideration for the balance of disciplines appropriate to the project. The opinions and conclusions expressed or implied are those of the research agency that performed the research, and, while they have been accepted as appropriate by the technical committee, they are not necessarily those of the Transportation Research Board, the National Research Council, the RITA, or the Federal Highway Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation. Each report is reviewed and accepted for publication by the technical committee according to procedures established and monitored by the Transportation Research Board Executive Committee and the Governing Board of the National Research Council. The Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, the National Research Council, the Federal Highway Administration, the Research and Innovative Technology Administration, and the National Cooperative Freight Research Program do not endorse products or manufacturers. Trade or manufacturers’ names appear herein solely because they are considered essential to the object of this report.

CRP STAFF FOR NCFRP REPORT 2 Christopher W. Jenks, Director, Cooperative Research Programs Crawford F. Jencks, Deputy Director, Cooperative Research Programs William C. Rogers, Senior Program Officer Eileen P. Delaney, Director of Publications Hilary Freer, Senior Editor NCFRP PROJECT 09 PANEL David L. Ganovski, David Ganovski & Associates, LLC, Berlin, MD (Chair) Christina S. Casgar, San Diego Association of Governments, San Diego, CA Gary Gallegos, San Diego Association of Governments, San Diego, CA Arthur Goodwin, Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority, Carson, CA Michael Huerta, MPH Consulting, LLC, Washington, DC Thomas O’Brien, California State University—Long Beach, Long Beach, CA George E. Schoener, I-95 Corridor Coalition, Reston, VA Sotirios Theofanis, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ M. J. Fiocco, RITA Liaison Joedy W. Cambridge, TRB Liaison Elaine King, TRB Liaison Martine A. Micozzi, 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 describes successful and promising institutional arrangements for improving freight movement, now and in the future. It provides a resource, with 40 guidelines reflecting lessons learned from existing arrangements, designed to help agencies and industry represen- tatives’ work together to invest in and improve the freight transportation system. The enclosed CD-ROM includes appendices consisting of a literature review, workshop material, detailed case studies, and interview guide. This report and the material provided in the appendices pro- vide guidance to elected officials, transportation planners, and the freight industry on the devel- opment of new and refinement of existing freight institutional arrangements. The freight industry is a unique blend of private- and public-sector organizations, each with its own objectives and constraints. Political and jurisdictional boundaries do not define market relationships, but can affect them. New forms of public-private, private- private, and public-public arrangements are needed to address challenges, particularly, increased congestion and delay on freight transportation corridors and hubs, that do not conform to government jurisdictions, geographic boundaries, or traditional dividing lines between government and business. Over the past several decades, public agencies and pri- vate businesses have begun developing innovative freight institutional arrangements to meet freight transportation challenges. As a result, public agencies are developing a better understanding of the freight transportation system and its needs, while private industry is becoming more knowledgeable about transportation planning programs. Under NCFRP Project 09, Cambridge Systematics, Inc., along with Gill V. Hicks & Asso- ciates and Network Public Affairs, LLC, developed a report that describes how to develop and sustain freight institutional arrangements. The report describes organizational and societal motivations for developing arrangements and the levers of influence for each of the parties in the arrangement (e.g., leadership, money, and regulation). The report also describes the factors that have contributed to or impeded the success of arrangements (including any fed- eral constraints) and made recommendations for advancing the state-of-the-practice. The report also presents an approach to developing and maintaining an arrangement, including: (a) methods for assessing the need for an arrangement and for defining its goals and scope; (b) types of institutional arrangements (from ad-hoc to formal) and factors that influence their selection; (c) methods to overcome common challenges to successfully implement and sustain an arrangement; (d) methods for evaluating the success, structure, and performance of an arrangement, including ways to measure benefits and costs to the parties of the arrange- ment; and (e) relevant tools and resources such as checklists, self-assessments, templates, memoranda of understanding, and model legislation. F O R E W O R D By William C. Rogers Staff Officer Transportation Research Board

C O N T E N T S 1 Summary 2 Chapter 1 Introduction 2 1.1 Research Need 2 1.2 Research Objective 3 1.3 Organization of the Report 4 Chapter 2 Overview of Institutional Arrangements 4 2.1 Definition 4 2.2 Literature Review 7 2.3 Stakeholder Workshop 8 2.4 Follow-Up Interviews and Case Study Development 11 2.5 Characterization of Freight Institutional Arrangements 15 Chapter 3 Institutional Arrangement Types 15 3.1 Type I 16 3.2 Type II 16 3.3 Type III 19 Chapter 4 Suggested Guidelines for Establishing Freight Institutional Arrangements 19 4.1 Guideline Development and Application Process 20 4.2 Type I—General Guidelines 40 4.3 Type II Guidelines 47 4.4 Type III Guidelines 57 Chapter 5 Application of Guidelines 57 5.1 Getting Started 57 5.2 Effective Use of Guidelines 58 5.3 Conclusions 59 Appendixes and Supporting Material