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1 The effective incorporation of freight transportation considerations into the transportation planning process is extremely important because the freight system is a crucial contributor to a vibrant economy, quality of life, and efforts to combat global warming and climate change. The freight transportation system is important because of both its posi- tive and negative contributions to modern life. An efficient freight transportation system is a necessary condition for economic competitiveness, and for realizing the full poten- tial of economic globalization. On the other hand, freightâ along with the rest of the transportation sectorâproduces many negative externalities, which, in turn, generate com- munity opposition to freight activities. These considerations acquire greater significance in light of the major economic currents shaping the 21st Century. The freight system will have to cover a larger geographic area, be more responsive to user needs and expectations, and reduce the impacts of truck traffic, all with fewer resources for expansions in infra- structure capacity. In short, the freight transportation system will need to do more with less. This adds pressure to state transportation agencies and Metropolitan Planning Organi- zations (MPOs) to balance the conflicting objectives of the stakeholders involved and impacted by freight. These challenges are compounded by the complexity of freight, and the lack of appropriate freight modeling meth- odologies. The lack of research and data concerning freight affects all facets of transportation demand analysis: genera- tion of cargo, distribution, mode choice, and traffic assign- ment. Overall, there is a great need for research to enhance the state of the quantitative aspects of freight generation. A better understanding of the variables driving the generation of freight demand, and their connection to land use, would help provide more accurate demand forecasts and better quantification of the traffic impacts from freight activity. This final report provides a detailed account of the work conducted by the research team on the different tasks of NCFRP Project 25. This report is organized as follows: Chapter Two focuses on land use definitions, characteristics, classes, and contexts. It provides a comprehensive discus- sion of various land use classification systems and their suit- ability to support freight trip generation modeling. These can be categorized into three groups: those using structure type or site descriptor [e.g., ITE (Institute of Transportation Engineers) Manual or Tax Assessorâs codes]; those using industry sectors at the establishment level [e.g., SIC (Stan- dard Industrial Classification) or NAICS (North American Industry Classification System)]; and those using land use planning designations [e.g., LBCS (Land-Based Classifica- tion Standards) and NYCZR]. Chapter Three discusses the freight system, purposes of freight activity, and freightâs rela- tion to land use. It presents both conceptual and empiri- cal aspects that help explain the functioning of the freight system. In addition, the chapter discusses the differences between freight generation (FG) and freight trip generation (FTG). Chapter Four builds on the discussions from previ- ous chapters and describes the relation between FTG and land use. The chapter proposes a modeling strategy for using the industry composition of different land uses to aggregate FTG estimates. A review of the literature and current practices in FTG modeling are discussed in Chapter Five. In addition, the chapter describes the comprehensive database of FG and FTG models and publications created by the team. This chap- ter also provides insights about recommended data collection practices and shows a freight/freight trip generation survey designed by the team. The results from a set of case studies for estimating the factors influencing freight/freight trip generation and its rela- tion to land use are discussed in Chapter Six. The research analyzed a number of case studies: 362 receivers of sup- plies in Manhattan and Brooklyn; 339 carrier companies in Northern New Jersey and New York; a furniture store chain in Midwestern States; and, supermarkets in the Puget Sound region and Manhattan. In the cases where the data were most C h a p t e r 1 Introduction
complete, the team had access to establishment-level data, including: employment; location; size; revenue; line of busi- ness; trip data (e.g., number of truck trips per day/week, ship- ment sizes, frequencies, empty trucks, type of trucks, hours of operations and in some cases, truck origins and destinations); and land use information. Results show the implications and directions resulting from the analyses, and the external valid- ity and transferability of estimated models. The report introduces a set of comprehensive and practical improvements, discussed in the Innovation Plan, to enhance FTG modeling practices. This discussion is followed by con- cluding remarks. 2
