Preserving and Protecting Freight Infrastructure and Routes

1. Preserving and Protecting Freight Infrastructure and Routes Findings from NCFRP 24 Mark Meitzen, Principal Investigator August 2011

2. Introduction and Outline • NCFRP 24 team • Christensen Associates • UT Austin Center for Transportation Research • Grow & Bruening • Assistance from Kathryn Pett • This presentation is a high-level summary • Freight transportation and its value • Incompatibilities between freight and other land uses • Freight considerations in land use planning and zoning • Greater detail on EnvisionFreight website and forthcoming final report

3. Supply Chains and the Movement of Freight • Most supply chains have an important spatial or geographic dimension • Activity hubs and links between hubs • Scope can be local, regional, national, international • Transportation is the vital link in these networks between diverse locations and functions • Raw materials • Various stages of production • Warehousing and distribution • Retail

4. The Importance of Freight Transportation • On average, almost 11,000 ton-miles of freight is transported annually for every person in the U.S. • Equivalent to one ton transported about half-way around the world for every person • Efficient freight transportation is a key to minimizing supply chain costs • In general, over half of logistics costs are related to transportation • Speed and reliability are key factors • Efficiency of freight transportation has important implications for the economy’s performance

5. The Role of Freight Transportation in Production and Distribution

6. Incompatibilities Between Freight and other Land Uses • Potential conflicts between freight operations and adjacent land uses • e.g., residential, commercial, schools, hospitals, etc. • Particularly an issue in urban areas • Nuisance • Congestion, traffic issues • Noise, vibration, light • Pollution and health • Physical encroachment or interference • Safety • At-grade crossings • Trespass • Accidents and spills

7. Incompatibilities = Barriers to Efficient Freight Operations • From freight perspective, these conflicts often interfere with freight operations. For example: • Speed restrictions • Hours of operation restrictions • Clearance and weight limitations • Capacity constraints • Corridor design constraints • Implications for supply chain/logistics efficiency and reliability • Higher production and distribution costs

8. Physical Encroachment onto Railroad Property Source: Chuck Burnell North Carolina Railroad

9. Residential Development in Close Proximity to Port Activity, LA/LB CA Source: The Impact Project, June 2009 http://hydra.usc.edu/scehsc/pdfs/D-1-3%20Trade%20Health%20Environment.pdf

10. Development Adjacent to Waterways Source: Mileski et al, “Analysis and Recommendations on Protecting Waterways from Encroachment”, Texas Transportation Institute, August, 2010.

11. Development Adjacent/Around Freight Facilities Key Highway (Condominiums) Baltimore MD Source: Jim Dwyer, Talking Freight, November 19 2008.

12. Trucks Queuing into Port, and Logistics Facilities Source: The Impact Project , LA/LB CA, June 2009 http://hydra.usc.edu/scehsc/pdfs/D-1-3%20Trade%20Health%20Environment.pdf Source: Coalition for Clean and Safe Ports, Oakland CA http://www.workingeastbay.org/downloads/Port_Campaign_Overview.pdf

13. Aircraft Noise - Residents Near Los Angeles International Airport Source: GAO Airport Operations and Future Growth Present Environmental Challenges, August 2000 http://www.gao.gov/archive/2000/rc00153.pdf

14. Poor Land Use Planning and Construction Standards Source: Dale Hill – Union Pacific

15. Trespass is Major Issue for Rail • Children crossing UP line in Anaheim CA to get to Ball Jr. High School • Crossing the tracks to get to San Onofre State Beach, CA Source: Jon Waide FRA Region 7 Law Enforcement Liaison Officer

16. Freight Preservation and Protection Strategies

17. Why Does Land Use Planning Matter to Freight? • Planning provides roadmap for (good and bad) zoning • Inadequate planning can lead to projects that: • Block or otherwise impact freight corridors • Put incompatible uses near, or encroaching on each other • Reduce industrial land available near freight facilities (e.g., ports) • Mitigation is often attempted when planning and zoning are inadequate • Mitigation can be expensive and is not always effective • Freight has typically not been a significant element of land use planning

18. Freight Compatible Planning and Development • Starts with long-range land use planning that: • Recognizes freight as a geographically-dispersed system • Corridors that span areas, not “blobs” • Protects and preserves the freight system • Permits future expansion of, and efficiency improvements to, the freight system • Avoid or minimize incompatibilities with other land uses. For example: • Buffer areas • Locations of commercial, residential, schools, hospitals, etc. • Lot orientation, building layout, construction guidelines

19. Land Use Authority in the U.S.

20. State Enabling Acts • State statute (“enabling act”) delegates the state’s land use authority to local governments and specifies: • Extent of authority • Required planning matters • Required procedural steps • Required planning documents (comprehensive plan, zoning ordinances, zoning map, subdivision ordinances, etc.) • Very few include freight operations as a required planning element

21. Typical Local Government Land Use System

22. Local Land Use is Influenced by Other Processes

23. MPOs and Regional Visions • MPOs mandated by federal law for metro areas • Establish long-range transportation plans (20–30 years) and short-term (5 years) “transportation improvement programs” • These plans can be key places to protect freight • Local governments generally protect MPO-designated corridors from land use encroachment • Regional visions – non-binding, long term (25-50 yrs) • Typically sponsored by MPOs, councils of govt, etc • Local governments are key stakeholders • In most visioning processes, freight has not been a key component to this point

24. Some Reasons for Inadequate Freight Planning • Most state enabling acts don’t include freight as a required planning element • Thus, not included in comprehensive plans or zoning • Not perceived as a local government issue • Benefits of freight are too removed, poorly understood • Local government only sees a piece of the system • Freight providers not always cooperative • Education and communication issues • Planning degrees don’t provide freight education • Freight stakeholders often aren’t involved in land use planning and visioning processes

25. Proposed Approach for Improving Freight Planning • Amend state enabling acts to make freight planning required in local comprehensive plans • Include freight in regional visions and MPO long-range plans • Create zoning ordinances that prescribe design criteria for freight-compatible development • Involvement and communication • Freight stakeholders need to get involved in regional and local planning processes • Planners and elected officials need to invite freight stakeholders to the table

26. www.EnvisionFreight.com • Website developed for NCFRP 24 with info on: • The value of freight transportation • Planning and preservation strategies • Mitigation approaches • Illustrative case studies • Urban freight operation issues and strategies highlighted in case studies. For example: • SIRR – corridor preservation and rehabilitation • MIZOD – overlay zone to preserve port assets • ARFMP – regional freight planning involving multiple stakeholders • Intermodal relocation – capacity and congestion