Rail Freight Solutions to Roadway Congestion--Final Report and Guidebook (2007) / Chapter Skim
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Pages 4-25
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From page 4... ...
The review discusses major issues around six topic areas: • Rail and general freight economics; • Intermodal planning, including truck and/or rail freight; • Studies of congestion costs; • Rail relocation and road/rail conflict issues; • Benefit-cost assessment and modeling; and • Public-private partnerships. These areas are each covered in more detail below.
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From page 5... ...
Trucks and the interstate highway system have long since reduced the role of rail in shaping economic geography, but Cronon's history still is highly informative about how details of transport cost and innovations in finance and marketing can lead to rapid growth in some locations while eliminating whole ranges of business activity in others. 2.1.3 Declining Marginal Costs Like many other transportation systems, railroads use a network to provide service to widely dispersed customers with many different service and handling requirements.
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From page 6... ...
. Although UPS and other major truck lines remain among the leading users of intermodal trains, rail intermodal capacity seems to have gravitated toward the international container market, where service demands generally are less stringent.
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More than a decade of research and testing at the Transportation Technology Center in Pueblo has enabled the rail industry to improve track integrity through the use of better materials, better equipment designs, and advanced track components; with a stronger track structure, railroads have reduced the total costs of shipping bulk commodities on the order of 2 to 5 percent by allowing axle loads to be increased from 33 to 36 tons [i.e., to the so-called 286,000-pound car (gross vehicle weight)
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From page 8... ...
In the intermodal arena, technological innovation caused dramatic changes in handling general intercity freight. Doublestack trains cut the line-haul costs of rail intermodal services nearly in half, which made these services highly competitive with direct TL operations.
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Fuel Efficiency Railroads, on the whole, are more fuel-efficient than trucks because of the inherent efficiency of the steel wheel on the steel rail and the use of gentle grades on rail routes. However, fuel use varies greatly with the commodity and the car type, and public agencies need to be able to go well beyond "average gallons per ton-mile for rail versus truck." Heavy trucks operating on good roads may, in fact, be more fuel-efficient than very short trains operating on poorly maintained, circuitous routes.
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From page 10... ...
; such models have been used to estimate the effects of providing double-stack service to the Port of Boston and options for relocation of intermodal terminals within eastern Massachusetts. New planning techniques are being developed that make extensive use of traffic flow data and graphical analysis for intermodal freight planning.
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From page 11... ...
For example, if 10 percent of the vehicles are heavy trucks on a route with signaled intersections, capacity will drop 20 to 25 percent. To look at this another way, if this route is operating close to capacity at rush hour, diverting the trucks would allow approximately 50 percent more automobiles on the road.
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From page 12... ...
Highway connections to service area Rationalization of center city rail network Facilities suitable for through as well as local traffic Rail clearances Line capacity Rail freight and rail passenger Capacity and schedule effects Commuter rail effect on highway congestion Rail and highways Improved protection Enforcement Rail operations during rush hour Grade separation and closing of grade crossings Conflicts among traffic flows Intermodal, merchandise, and bulk trains on high density rail lines Terminals Capacity for growth Centralized versus dispersed facilities In-town versus perimeter facilities Location and highway access Intermodal issues Equipment Containers versus trailers Potential for non-standard technologies Closure of crossings with low highway traffic Protection for crossings with high road traffic volume Grade crossings Effects of rail routing changes on roadway congestion Rail service to industrial parks and large potential customers Provision of sidings and support yards for potential customers Service to industry Rail inclusion in economic development planning Axle load limits for track structure Weight limits for bridges Heavy-haul railroads Assistance to short line and regional railroads Upgrade tracks and bridges for common Class I trains Factors
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From page 13... ...
There is a trend toward locating new intermodal terminals away from the central cities, which will affect both highway traffic and future development. Norfolk Southern located a new 14
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The results of the study were presented to the Sarasota/Manatee MPO in September 1993. The MPO accepted the report, but recommended that FDOT not pursue any improvements at that time because the MPO did not believe that the proposed project would "necessarily represent a great benefit to the community at large." Elimination of grade crossing delays has been a major motivation for some notable examples of public investment in rail facilities, including the Alameda Corridor in Los Angeles/Long Beach and the Sheffield Flyover in Kansas City; these two projects are examined among the case illustrations in Chapter 2.
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From page 15... ...
to accommodate the highvolume truck traffic between the Dallas-Fort Worth area and Laredo. In contrast, the Highway Upgrade with Rail Implementation strategy promoted cooperative rail services between Kansas City and Laredo in order to decrease freight traffic on I-35.
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Two other scenarios focused on enhancing the efficiency of freight flows necessary to support local businesses. The rail scenario included improvements to the Norfolk Southern route into Delaware, construction of a Triple Crown terminal in New Castle County, better use of the Brandywine Valley Railroad, and the effects of the Shellpot Bridge repair.
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. The intercity freight planning effort began with the development of a county-level commodity flow data set for all modes.
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Others provide sophisticated analytical models that require data not commonly available for rail freight applications. A useful general reference that specifically treats the interrelation of the freight rail and highway systems is the AASHTO Freight Rail Bottom Line Report, released in 2003.
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provides a contemporary view of transportation systems issues, with chapters that provide general background on rail operations and logistics costs. Economists and public agencies often use sophisticated econometric analysis in support of public policy decisions.
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2.6.1 Brief History of Public-Private Relationships with Rail Industry Land Grants and the Transcontinental Railroads There are many examples in the United States of publicprivate partnerships for the construction and operation of railroads. The construction of the transcontinental railways is a well-known example, in which land grants, loans, and loan guarantees allowed private companies to build networks across the west.
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From page 21... ...
During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Conrail made rapid improvements in productivity and eventually achieved profitability. In 1999 it was sold to Norfolk Southern and CSX for a total of $10 billion.
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• Northern New Jersey Transportation Planning Authority. A 1993 intermodal coordination study identified various deficiencies in the intermodal system, including the following: – Inadequate highway access to marine and rail terminals and – Rail access, clearances, and capacity.
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American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, "Freight-Rail Bottom Line Report", Washington DC, January 2003. AREMA, "Manual of Railway Engineering", American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association, Washington DC (updated annually)
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Erlbaum, Nathan, "Use of Reebie Freight Data in New York State", Presentation to Freight Planning Symposium "Uncovering Freight Trends, Gaining Market Advantage", Reebie Associates, Cambridge, MA, October 16-17, 2001. Federal Highway Administration, "Financing Freight Transportation Improvements", Conference Proceedings, St.
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From page 25... ...
The Louis Berger Group, "Desk Reference for Estimating the Indirect Effects of Proposed Transportation Projects", NCHRP Report 466, National Academy Press, Washington DC, 2002. Transportation Research Board, "Providing Access for Large Trucks", Special Report 223, National Academy Press, Washington, DC, 1989.
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