Multimodal Freight Transportation Within the Great Lakes--Saint Lawrence Basin (2012)

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89 A P P E N D I X D Stakeholder Consultation Guide National Cooperative Freight Research Program (NCFRP), Project 35 “Multimodal Freight Transportation within the Great Lakes–Saint Lawrence Basin” 11 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES The objectives of the research are to i) describe the current multimodal freight transportation system and its performance in the Great Lakes–Saint Lawrence Basin (GLSLB), ii) define the economic impact of the freight transportation system on regional, U.S. and Canadian economies, and iii) identify opportunities and constraints to improving the performance of the multimodal freight transportation system in the Basin to meet future freight flows and maximize the economic potential of this system for the region and broader national economies. For more information, see: http://144.171.11.40/cmsfeed/TRBNetProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=2923. CONSULTATION GUIDE This consultation guide is intended to facilitate consultations with federal, state, provincial, MPOs, and other municipal stakeholders in the U.S. and Canada with an interest in the performance of the multimod- al freight transportation system in the GLSLB. PART A—CONSULTATION RECORD Organization name: Participating representative(s) name and title: Representative contact details (tele- phone and email): Permission to quote or otherwise ref- erence in study report? Consultation completed by / date 11 This study has been commissioned by the Transportation Research Board (TRB), as part of its National Cooperative Freight Research Program (NCFRP) for Fiscal Year 2010. CPCS Transcom Limited (CPCS) lead this study, in asso- ciation with the Great Lakes Maritime Research Institute, the University of Toledo, Economic Development Research Group, Prime Focus and Sustainable Ports. Consultations will take place by telephone, email and in person, as appropriate. All responses will re- main confidential, and will not be attributed, unless permission to quote is otherwise granted.

90 Multimodal Freight Transportation Within the Great Lakes–Saint Lawrence Basin PART B—INTEREST, ROLE AND AUTHORITY IN FREIGHT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM IN THE GLSLB 1. What is your organization’s interest, role and/or authority vis-à-vis the performance of the freight transportation system in the GLSLB? 2. What are the principal freight modes that your organization concentrates on? Of these, how do they rank in order of importance with respect to your organization's interests and jurisdiction? 3. Does your organization have, use, or track performance metrics or guidelines with respect to the per- formance of the multimodal freight transportation system in the GLSLB? What are these metrics or guidelines? Can you provide a copy of relevant material? 4. Do you feel that your organization has sufficient data to inform freight transportation performance issues in the GLSLB (Yes/No)? If not, what data would be required to better inform performance im- provement initiatives? PART C—ISSUES AND BARRIERS TO CURRENT PERFORMANCE OF MULTIMODAL FREIGHT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM IN THE GLSLB 5. What do you view as the major issues or barriers to the performance of the multimodal freight trans- portation system in the GLSLB (modal and/or multimodal perspectives useful)? 6. How do these issues and barriers manifest themselves in poor or sub-optimal freight transportation performance, and how does this impact your jurisdiction/mandate/ industries/constituents, specifically (please use examples, as relevant)?

Stakeholder Consultation Guide 91 7. Do you see these issues and barriers as being unique to your region/jurisdiction, or are they associated with the wider multimodal transportation system? 8. From your perspective, what are the broader implications of these issues and barriers for the long- term performance of the multimodal freight transportation system in the GLSLB? PART D—STRATEGIES, POLICIES AND PLANS TO ADDRESS PERFORMANCE ISSUES 9. Please describe any strategies, policies and other initiatives that your organization is undertaking with relevance to the future performance of the multimodal transportation system (e.g., Freight Plans). Who is responsible for developing these strategies, policies and initiatives? Can you share any rele- vant information/plans? 10. What specific investment plans is your organization undertaking to improve the performance of the multimodal freight transportation system in the GLSLB (or subset thereof)? What are the anticipated impacts and benefits from these investments? 11. Is your budget adequate to address the specific multimodal freight transportation performance barri- ers/constraints, as relevant to your organizations/authority/jurisdiction (Yes/No)? What were the ap- proximate funding levels last year for related investments/initiatives? 12. How do you collaborate with other organizations or authorities in improving and/or removing barriers to the performance of the multimodal freight transportation system in the GLSLB?

92 Multimodal Freight Transportation Within the Great Lakes–Saint Lawrence Basin PART E—OTHER OPPORTUNITIES AND CONSTRAINTS TO IMPROVING PERFOR- MANCE OF FREIGHT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM IN GLSLB 13. What other opportunities do you see to improve the overall performance of the multimodal freight transportation system in the GLSLB? How can these opportunities be realized? Who should have a role in this (if beyond your organization’s capabilities or mandate)? 14. What constraints exist to the development of initiatives to improve the performance of the multimodal freight transportation system in the GLSLB (e.g., regulatory barriers, policy barriers, financial barri- ers, environmental barriers, etc.)? How do these constraints manifest themselves in relation to per- formance improvements? 15. Do you think that there is adequate R&D focused on performance improvements in the GLSLB (Yes/No)? What programmatic funds address multimodal freight transportation performance R&D in the GLSLB? Please be specific. 16. Do you think that a discussion of a national freight transportation plan would help reduce barriers and constraints to the performance of the multimodal freight transportation system in the GLSLB? (Yes/No) If so, how?