CTS Waterways Research

1
CTS Waterways Research

• Wrap Up
• Center for Transportation Studies
• University of Missouri, St. Louis

2
Economic Evaluation of Alternatives at Current
Traffic Levels
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3
Findings

• Economic benefits of new traffic management
  policies are likely to be small at current
  traffic levels.
• The economic benefits accrue differentially
  across system users, and some users would be
  disadvantaged.
• The costs range from very small for management
  policies using existing data to very large for
  policies utilizing sophisticated real-time vessel
  tracking.
• Disruption of existing markets ranges from small
  to large.

4
Findings (continued)

• Real time and near-real time vessel tracking is
  feasible on the UMR.
• Integration of tow tracking and lock scheduling
  is feasible.
• Vessel tracking may provide collateral benefits
  for safety, security, environmental protection
  and operations.

5
Implementation Issues

• Data issues
• Ownership.
• Accuracy and timeliness
• Current information is not always accurate.
• Cost increases with accuracy.
• Availability
• Integration of dynamic information from locks or
  other sources can be added.
• Availability of data for recreational vessels?
• Responsibility and authority for traffic
  management needs to be clarified.

6
Recommendation

• At current traffic levels, new traffic management
  policies such as appointment and scheduling
  systems are not recommended because of the small
  economic benefits they would create relative to
  the potential large disruptions they would create
  in existing markets.

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Recommendation (continued)

• Implementation of expensive vessel tracking
  systems for lockage management is not cost
  effective at this time however, vessel tracking
  for safety, security, environmental protection
  and operations may merit implementation.

8
Implementation

• According to the National Academies of Science
• creating a useful nonstructural traffic
  management system on the UMR-IWW is not a simple
  matter1
• The challenges associated with implementing
  nonstructural measures should not be taken
  lightly 1

1 Review of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Restructured Upper Mississippi-Illinois Waterway
Feasibility Study Prepublication Copy, 2004.