Freight transportation is critical for nearly every item and service that U.S. consumers purchase. Movement of goods transferred between truck and rail, or rail and water, known as "intermodal" freight transportation, plays a growing role in the nation's freight sector. Because intermodal freight competes with traditional "single-mode" freight, the intermodal option has spurred efficiency in a large segment of the freight industry overall. The growth of intermodal freight has helped to control the costs of operating highways and to reduce pollution, and has stimulated employment in some local areas.
State and local governments have become increasingly aware of the importance of freight transfer facilities such as seaports, airports, and barge, truck, and rail terminals for the efficient functioning of the transportation system and for regional economic development. But projects to build and improve access to these facilities pose special challenges. Successful projects require partnerships among governments and the private sector that can involve complex, often innovative financing arrangements such as tolls, special taxes, and bonds.
A new report from the National Research Council's Transportation Research Board recommends guidelines to help governments evaluate proposals for public investment in freight facility projects and to select financing arrangements. The report also examines government policies beyond infrastructure investment that affect freight efficiency, including regulations and operating practices for public roads, ports, and waterways.
To warrant government participation, the report says, a proposed freight infrastructure project first must make sense economically, that is, have benefits that exceed its costs, and also must meet one or more of the following conditions:
- Reduce the external costs of transportation, such as pollution and traffic congestion, that are in addition to those borne directly by shippers and carriers
- Yield economic development benefits beyond those to users of the facility, such as jobs created in a region of high unemployment
- Redress an imbalance caused by subsidies to some class of carrier or competing freight facilities
- Be necessary for national defense or public safety
- Fall within the established government responsibility for parts of the infrastructure, such as government-owned highways, ports, waterways, and airports
Funding for the study was provided by the U.S. Department of Transportation. The National Research Council is the operating arm of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering. It provides independent advice on science and technology issues under a congressional charter.
Policy Options for Intermodal Freight (TRB Special Report 252) is available from the Transportation Research Board for $30.00 (prepaid) plus shipping charges of $4.00 for the first copy and $.50 for each additional copy; tel. (202) 334-5519 or e-mail aarcher@nas.edu. Reporters may obtain copies from the Office of News and Public Information (contacts listed above).