Breakout Session Summary

1
Breakout Session Summary
2
Recap of Breakout Session Goals/Objectives

• Identify/Begin development of workable approaches
  that can help assist States/MPOs with continuous
  effort to further integrate freight interests and
  considerations in the transportation planning
  process
• Examine current transportation planning process
• Improve understanding of current transportation
  planning process
• Assess ability of planning process to respond to
  freight issues
• Identify opportunities for improvements that will
  enhance freight planning
• Define changes necessary to make opportunities
  work
• OUTCOME Provide resource for addressing
  freight issues in TEA-21 Re-authorization process

3
Process Overview

• 6 Groups of 8-10 participants each
• Multiple perspectives represented in each group
• State, MPO, Federal, Private Sector
• Planners/Engineers/Business/Administrators
• Two Sessions Ensured Comprehensive Approach
• AM Intense brainstorming in 11 areas of the
  Transportation Planning Process
• Strengths and weaknesses of existing process were
  identified
• More than 200 Opportunities were identified and
  prioritized
• PM Participants challenged to identify workable
  action steps for the top 12 opportunities
• Active discussions in each group

4
Common Themes

• Need to think in terms of freight and
  passenger transportation versus modes
• Need to establish Freight-Specific Performance
  Measures
• Need to expand Public Involvement for Freight
  Issues
• Need to expand Freight Education/Awareness
• Need to improve Analytic Models/Tools and Data
  Access

5
Summary of Strengths and Weaknessesin Existing
Planning Process
6
Goals and Objectives

• Strengths
• Can help set national vision
• Some similarities in goals/objectives (ex.
  Safety, maintenance, etc.)
• Increasingly objectives must be tied to specific
  performance measures
• Broad freight perspective/National
  recognition/flexibility good
• Weaknesses
• Freight perspective not sufficiently addressed
  in process
• Expectations for goals/objectives at national
  level are unclear (ie., relationship of MPO/state
  planning and goals to national role in freight
  planning)
• Emphasis on Passenger versus Freight in Goal
  Setting
• Mode thinkingnot holistic, systems-based
• Too vagueNot specific enough generally to be
  meaningful
• Global nature of freight difficult to deal with
  at local level

7
Organization

• Strengths
• Significant freight champions among stakeholders
• Intermodal Advisory Task Force good
• Federal support for regional approach (MPOs)
• Weaknesses
• Lack of centralized structure/ strategies in
  focusing freight planning
• Regional view may not cross state line
• New constituencies have trouble gaining entry to
  process
• Wide variation in MPO and State DOT technical
  abilities
• Organizations are ill prepared to deal with
  competing issues (Trucking/rail)
• Lack of coordination among MPOs and between Govt
  levels

8
Public Involvement

• Strengths
• Process is well-established
• Opportunities explicitly exist
• Weaknesses
• Insufficient resources
• Lack of participation by trucking/rail
• Lack of understanding of role of freight leads to
  inability to ID proper players.
• Dont educate public on freight benefits at
  present
• Imbalance in representation at meetings (vocal
  NIMBYs)
• Opportunities not sufficiently embraced by
  freight
• Typically messy

9
Data

• Strengths
• Data is available (commodity survey, REEBIE,
  etc.)
• Weaknesses
• Collected but not effectively utilized
• Lack of awareness of whats available
• Not timely
• Stratified by mode/Not linked to economic
  development data
• Lack of trust in data collection resulting in
  duplication of effort/redundancy
• Intermodal data not available

10
Technical Tools

• Strengths
• Good forecasting tools for engineering/population
  data
• Limits of existing tools are understood
• Cost/Benefit models do exist
• Weaknesses
• Validity/Credibility issues Inconsistent levels
  of faith in tool outputs
• Models are cumbersome
• Data is flawed (lack of statistics)
• Turnover in modeler skillsets high
• Tools tend to be mode specific Lack of
  integrated toolsets (intermodal models) for
  integrated planning
• Lack of freight forecasting tool
• Lack of flexible/quick analysis tools

11
Identify Needs/Deficiencies

• Strengths
• process is well-established
• Good congestion management tools
• Planning horizon for freight shorter than for
  passenger
• Weaknesses
• Lack of resources to conduct freight needs
  analysis
• Process sometimes too technical for
  decision-makers
• Needs tend to focus on passenger versus freight
• Corridor-specific needs identification critical
  but requires resources
• Private sector not adequately consulted
• Lack of consensus In dealing with private freight
  infrastructure in public process
• Freight issues hard to quantify

12
Develop/Evaluate Alternatives

• Strengths
• Some MPOs are trying to think intermodally
• Weaknesses
• Freight perspective not institutionalizedStates/M
  POs driven by mode specific funding
• Systems perspective lacking
• Passenger and Freight perspectives missing

13
Develop Long Range Plans

• Strengths
• Long-term Horizon goodTakes at least 15 years to
  get major investments approved.
• Weaknesses
• Too Long-Term
• Financial constraints are limitation to vision
• Dont include private sector perspectives
• Incompatible timeframes between private/public
  sector
• Not enough What-If questions
• Prioritization not done enough
• Changing political landscape presents challenges

14
Develop TIPs

• Strengths
• Private sector will participate here
• Required to report on previous year
• Programs that help locals find money
• Flexibility in CMAQ funding
• Weaknesses
• Some MPOs overprogram to detriment of program
• Insufficient application of objective
  performance-based criteria
• Spreading limited funds across too many programs

15
Summary of Opportunities to Improve Planning
Process
16
Opportunities with External Influences

• Goals/Objectives
• Expand goals discussion to private sector
• Educate freight (shippers and carriers)
• Organization
• Involve other USDOT agencies more actively in
  freight planning (beyond FHWA/FTA)
• Increase focus in MPO and State DOTs for
  acknowledging and dealing with freight
• Consider wide scope (ie corridors trade routes)
• Improve regional coordination among State DOTs
  and MPOs
• Public Involvement
• Planners/Officials should attend trade
  association meetings

17
Opportunities with External Influences (Cont.)

• Data
• Create Freight Data Architecture
• Establish consistent set of freight data
  available to all levels (local, state, Fed)
• Develop best practices for using, analyzing and
  presenting what is relevant to decision makers
• USDOT should coordinate strategy for
  data/decision needs and obtaining data
• Assure intermodal/freight perspective
• Technical Tools
• Tools should cross state borders
• Need experts to develop improved models for
  freight
• Develop state of the art commodity flow models
• Awareness of focus on trade versus modeNeed vs.
  Means
• Link Models/Develop integrated tools
• Financial Plan
• Develop plans/projects that co-mingle funds

18
Planning-Based Process Opportunities

• Identify/Analyze Issues/Deficiencies
  (Current/Future)
• Identify cross-modal issues
• Identify benefits of public sector investment in
  private facilities
• Implement regional approach/multi-jurisdictional
  approach to analysis
• Integration of trucks, intermodal transportation
  to play a major role
• Learn to manage private/public sector time
  criticalities
• Develop/Evaluate Alternatives
• Prioritize FreightFund movement of people and
  commodities rather than modes
• Develop tool to get freight perspective into
  alternative mix
• Improve evaluation tools for all modes

19
Planning-Based Process Opportunities (Cont.)

• Prepare/Adopt Long Range Plan
• Create vision with no time limits
• Implement more holistic approach to
  goals/objectives in pla
• Adopt a systems-based approach
• Prepare/Adopt TIP
• Develop separate programming process
• Involve private sector moreShow benefits of
  public investments to private interests
• Ask private sector what could bring them to the
  tableDevelop Public/Private Comprehensive plan
• Benchmark MPOs that consider freight in the TIP

20
Next Steps

• Develop summary of with recommendations from this
  workshop that youve provided.
• Actions that require legislative action will be
  forwarded to Washington through USDOT.
• Future workshops will continue this discussion to
  further develop more complex ideas.

21
THANK YOU!!!