Virginia Freight Advisory Committee Meeting September 19, 2006 Norfolk International Terminal. Attendance

Transcription

1 Virginia Freight Advisory Committee Meeting September 19, 2006 Norfolk International Terminal Attendance Committee: Randall Burdette, DOAV Ralph Davis, Secretary s Office Jeff Florin, VPA Rob Girardot, CSX Marc Kirchner, Norfolk Southern Ed McCarthy, APM Trip Pollard, SELC Chick Rosemond, Wyatt Transfer Mary Lynn Tischer, Multimodal Office Matthew Tucker, DRPT Greg Whirley, VDOT Staff: Kathy Graham, VDOT Erik Johnson, VDOT Kimberly Spence, VDOT Others: Bill LaBaugh, DRPT Camelia Ravanbakht, HRPDC Rusty Harrington, DOAV Michael Testerman, Rail Solutions Page 1 of 5

2 Meeting Summary Welcome and Introductions Ralph Davis opened the meeting and thanked everyone for coming. He discussed the tremendous challenges facing Virginia in terms of resource constraints and freight growth. He explained that the need for Virginia s freight study was identified in the state s long-range multimodal transportation plan, known as VTrans2025, because of the need to plan for the anticipated increase in freight and the fact that freight needs are different from those of passengers. He stressed the need for the freight study to result in actionable recommendations and urged the group to provide feedback and insight. Participants introduced themselves and shared their expectations for the Freight Advisory Committee. Expectations included a desire to learn from each other, work together towards mutually beneficial goals, form partnerships, and identify workable solutions to address freight mobility issues. Role of the Freight Advisory Committee Mary Lynn Tischer highlighted the four key roles of the Freight Advisory Committee: 1. Provide input on the freight study, including recommendations on how to structure the study, identification of major issues and where to target resources, and insight into the freight business. 2. Provide a mechanism for communication with the larger freight community. 3. Facilitate partnerships to improve freight mobility and planning. 4. Assist in developing an Action Plan to ensure implementation of recommendations identified in the study. At this time, the expectation is that the Freight Advisory Committee will meet quarterly. The group may also wish to identify subcommittees for special topics that will meet between quarterly meetings. Freight Study Scope of Work Mary Lynn Tischer gave an overview of the freight study scope of work and schedule. The study will be conducted in two phases, the first of which will take approximately 6 months. Phase 2 is expected to take approximately 12 months. A consultant team led by Cambridge Systematics has been selected to do the study. The team includes several nationally recognized freight experts as well as Global Insight, the proprietor of the Transearch commodity flow database that will be used for the study. Dr. Tischer also noted that the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission (HRPDC) is conducting a regional freight study in coordination with the larger statewide effort. Other regional planning bodies are also encouraged to do freight studies. VDOT provided Transearch data sets to each metropolitan planning organization at no cost and provides technical assistance. Federal planning funds are also available to carry out the Page 2 of 5

3 federally mandated transportation planning process, which includes consideration of freight mobility issues. One recommendation was offered that grants should be available to local planning organizations for local freight studies. The freight study will build off the vision and goals identified in VTrans2025 and include a specific vision for freight mobility. The study will be unconstrained in terms of identifying needs, but prioritize recommendations in recognition of current budget constraints. The National Freight Policy Framework will be used to structure the study and illustrate the intent to move from a broad vision and goals to specific project recommendations. Matt Tucker elaborated on the task dealing with a diversion analysis along Interstate 81. This analysis is required by recent state legislation and will be complimented by a similar study underway by Norfolk Southern. Cambridge Systematics will validate the Norfolk Southern study, identify the public benefits of investment, and quantify levels of investment of the public and private sector. The group discussed the importance of diverting freight from truck to rail because of the current shortage of truck drivers and the projected increases in freight movement. Several committee members stressed the need to develop this segment of the workforce and bring more people into technical freight transportation jobs. The American Trucking Association is considering offering scholarships to address the labor shortage. One recommendation offered was to work through the community college system to develop this segment of the workforce. The committee also discussed the need to foster multi-state partnerships and recognized the Heartland Rail Corridor as an example of a successful partnership. In addition to multi-state partnerships, there is a need to develop partnerships among private sector interests and between the public and private sectors. That is one of the key roles of the Freight Advisory Committee. The group agreed that the scope outlined for the freight study is appropriate, but noted that additional issues or analyses may be identified as the study progresses. Of particular interest to the group are the initial data analysis and fast-track action items. Dr. Tischer pointed out that many of the work products from the study will be brought to the Freight Advisory Committee for review and comment. Review of Forum Recommendations Dr. Tischer provided a brief summary of how the forum recommendations were developed and highlighted several recommendations of particular interest to the group. She described six broad categories for the recommendations: (1) Bottlenecks and Chokepoints, (2) Technologies, (3) Diversion, (4) Alliances and Processes, (5) Regulatory Barriers, and (6) Operations. Page 3 of 5

4 Specific comments on the recommendations included: It will be important to recognize the impact to passenger rail service resulting from diversion of more freight to rail. Improving the transportation/land use connection will reduce the number of passenger trips and benefit freight as well. While the long-range multimodal transportation plan (VTrans2025) addresses passenger and freight needs, the freight study should also make a general statement regarding the need to connect transportation and land use. There is significant potential for barging to accommodate some of the projected freight growth. This is especially true for the north-bound corridor up the Chesapeake Bay. The Maritime Administration has done some extensive studies on short-sea shipping. Those studies should be reviewed and recommendations considered. The shortage of long-term and short-term parking in freight corridors is a significant safety issue. Alternatives available to truckers are limited. Committee members agreed to provide a prioritized list of bottlenecks or chokepoints that impede freight mobility. The lists should be submitted to Kimberly Spence by October 6, 2006 via at Kimberly.spence@vdot.virginia.gov or by mail to 1401 East Broad Street, Richmond, VA Rob Girardot suggested the need to develop a strategy to reduce the amount of freight that is drayed to off terminal rail ramps. (This is because the majority of rail cargo is currently shipped via NS and all marine terminals do not have direct rail access to NS). A work group was suggested to evaluate the opportunities to increase the amount of freight that can be directly loaded to rail at the marine terminals. This could eliminate a significant amount of intra-terminal traffic and make rail a more feasible transportation option. The first step will be to quantify the potential volume of cargo to be targeted, specifically intra-terminal traffic and cargo traveling over 200 miles by truck. Representatives from VPA, Norfolk Southern, CSX, and HRPDC agreed to work together off-line to further this idea. Cambridge Systematics will be asked to meet with this subcommittee to identify data needs, etc. It was noted that the new APM and Craney Island Terminals have tremendous potential to maximize the number of rail boxes directly loaded to inland destinations because both terminals have dual rail access from both CSX and NS. This is not necessarily the case with other marine terminals in the port. There are numerous technologies that could benefit freight, including expansion of the Weigh-In-Motion Program, Agile Port, roll-on/roll-off, E-seal, Optical Character Recognition (OCR), Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), appointment technologies, and pollution reduction devices. Variable Message Signs were noted as being effective incident management technologies when kept up to date. Potential application of these and other technologies should be explored further. Ed McCarthy offered to assist with compiling more information on the potential application and benefit of these technologies. Page 4 of 5

5 Adjournment Several committee members indicated that this is the beginning of a very important process and it is essential to move forward. Ralph Davis thanked everyone for their participation and closed the meeting. Page 5 of 5