Rail Freight In Relief of Roadway Congestion

1. Rail Freight In Relief of Roadway Congestion NCHRP 8-42 Talking Freight March, 2007 Carl Martland

2. NCHRP 8-42 STUDY Purpose: road congestion relief • Surrounding issues inevitably broader Three Objectives: • Expand Scope of Public Planning Processes • Improve Methods to Identify and Assess Solutions • Cultivate Public-Private and Public-Public Cooperation Study Products: • Guidebook (Volume I) • Final Report (Volume II)

3. RAIL FREIGHT IN RELIEF OF ROADWAY CONGESTION Rail relief of roads is viable • Road planners need to know it Clear ways to judge and proceed • 8-42 Study products show how Biggest barriers not market barriers • Institutional and capital priorities

4. CONVERGING INTERESTS PUBLIC: • Alternatives diminishing, multi-modal options desirable • Supply capacity any effective way • Freight functions as a system • Rail is most prominent alternative • Multiple public benefits PRIVATE: • Constrained rail ability to finance capital improvements • Capital intensive industry more receptive to public investment • Aids Cost of Capital and ROI gap (Virtuous Cycle)

5. NEEDS Public agencies pay scant attention to rail freight • Result: narrow experiential base, limited scope for action Railway’s situation analogous for public planning Both parties need to forge new partnerships • Aided by systematic approaches to analyze and implement rail options

6. EXAMPLES OF RAIL FREIGHT OPTIONS

7. FACTORS AFFECTING FEASIBILITY Private Sector vs. Public Sector Planning • Different perspectives on freight Needs for Better Tools and Methods • Public Investment Planning Processes • Approach for multi-modal planning • Methods for Assessing Issues & Solutions • Approach for identifying options • Public-Private Cooperation • Roles of service providers and shippers

8. PUBLIC-PRIVATE RELATIONSHIPS Actions to aid relationship development • Cooperation First • Distribution of Roles • Collaborative Dispute Resolution

9. DRAWING SUPPORT: PRIVATE PRIORITY When capital & capacity both scarce, good traffic gives way to better: • Driven by growth in import containers • Public benefits not in private calculation Solution: put public capital on the table • Changes comparison • Improves return • Expands capital pool

10. Ways to Affect Public Program Priority DRAWING SUPPORT: PUBLIC PRIORITY REFORMULATION in freight terms 111111111111 CONTAINMENT of worsening congestion111111 BROADER CRITERIA appealing to voters:11111 • Economic development • Safety (traffic separation)

11. T r a i n s Railroad Private P u b l I c DRAWING SUPPORT: COALITIONS Multi-Party Investment: • Public: Track & terminals • Private Operators: Equipment & terminals • Both: Train starts affecting crew & power • Railroads contribute everywhere, including national fleets & network

12. APPLICABLE SITUATIONS • Traffic growth seems to require extensive highway capacity investment. • Over-reliance on trucks leads to severe congestion. • Rail network structure restricts role of rail. • Rail network structure restricts role of highways. • Freight users are too small or scattered for efficient use of rail. • Regional economic development is threatened by lack of goods movement.

13. DECISION-MAKING PROCESS Identify ApplicableRail Freight Solutions Perspective of Planners Perspective of Decision-Makers Alternatives to be Evaluated Social and Econ Impacts Effectiveness of Rail Freight Pub/Pvt Benefit/Cost; Shipper Acceptance Funding and Implementation Plans

14. POLICY MECHANISMS • Project Finance of Capacity Expansion • Public Ownership of Right-of-Way • Redevelopment of Rail Facilities • Taxation Relief and Incentives • Finance Reform – equality by mode • Land Grants and land swaps • Support of Light Density Lines

15. 3-PHASE ANALYSIS APPROACH 1. Preliminary Assessment of Feasibility • Q: Can rail help relieve congestion? • Use simple sketch planning tools 2. Detailed Analysis • Q: Do benefits justify the costs? • Use traffic diversion and benefit models 3. Decision-Making • Q: Is this project better than alternatives? • Use benefit/cost and multi-criteria analysis

16. EVALUATION PROCESS Traffic Activity Forecast Truck & rail freight movements Current & future hwy delay patterns • Costs: • Current Congestion • Future without change • Future with new plan • Highway & alt. rail plans Categorize problem types (5) Amt of divertible freight Output: Max Econ Feasible Spending

17. ANALYTIC TOOLS

18. MULTI-MODAL BENEFIT-COST

19. PUBLIC MOTIVATIONS Project  Relevance  Motivation  Lessons & Outcomes

20. CONCLUSIONS • Rail freight can be a viable solution in some cases. • Public investment can enlarge the market that freight rail addresses. • Motor carriers can be allies. Facing labor shortages, truck delays and mounting fuel prices, they can see rail freight as a positive option. • When rail succeeds in winning traffic, it does so with competitive service that also boosts the efficiency of motor carriers. • Public-private partnerships can be appropriate, realistic and valuable for both parties. • Institutional barriers are surmountable.

21. Contacts: Joseph Bryan, Global Insight: joe.bryan@globalinsight.com Glen Weisbrod, Economic Development Research Group gweisbrod@edrgroup.com Carl Martland martlan@attglobal.net Guide www.trb.org/NotesDocs/NCHRP08-42_Guidebook_Rev10-06.pdf Report www.trb.org/NotesDocs/NCHRP08-42_FR_Rev10-06.pdf