By WENDELL COX
Drivers in Los Angeles are getting heartburn thinking about the traffic congestion that increases after Labor Day, when students have returned to school and workers have returned from summer vacations.
In Los Angeles and in cities across America, soaring fuel costs and worsening gridlock are like a one-two punch hitting drivers, pinching our wallets and costing us valuable time lost in traffic.
At the same time Capitol Hill is tackling the issue of exorbitant fuel costs, it should also devote attention to finding solutions for the congestion facing commuters across the country. The gridlock situation today is already alarming. The average commuter in America spends an extra 43 hours more than a full workweek each year caught in traffic.
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, freight traffic is expected to increase by two-thirds by 2020. One large truck takes up the same amount of highway space as almost four cars and the average truck is becoming longer with the increased use of double- and triple-trailers. With little chance of increasing urban road capacity sufficiently, an increase in truck volume would continue to add to our commuting problems.
There are ways to not only reduce gridlock and also save countless gallons of fuel by becoming smarter on how we move freight.
Each year, using data from the Texas Transportation Institute, I study the impact of increased freight traffic in our most congested urban areas and report on how redirecting some of this freight from trucks on the highway to freight trains could impact a typical commuter.
Decreasing commute
In the Los Angeles area, by 2025, shifting 25 percent of freight from trucks to freight trains would decrease drivers’ commutes by 39 hours. In addition, such a shift would save each commuter $795 in annual congestion costs.
Shifting freight from road to rail also has a positive environmental impact. Freight rail is more fuel efficient per ton-mile than trucks and reduces fuel consumption of other motorists by decreasing the time drivers spend idling in traffic. By 2025, commuters in the Los Angeles area could save 73 gallons of fuel with a 25 percent shift of freight from truck to rail.
Air pollution levels also would improve with an increased use of freight rail. For instance, by 2025, shifting 25 percent of freight to rail would decrease air pollutant emissions in the Los Angeles area by as much as 49,983 tons.
Major road improvement efforts, such as the U.S. 101 realignment through downtown Los Angeles and the 405 HOV lane construction, are clear signs that our highways and bridges cannot withstand the current and projected traffic volumes. Construction and repairs are often expensive and politically contentious. However, freight rail can help stem the tide.
One freight train can carry the equivalent cargo of 500 trucks, and one intermodal train can carry nearly 300 truck trailers. Trucking companies and railroads are already forming intermodal partnerships that combine the best abilities of both modes of transportation. In fact, intermodal is the fastest-growing segment of the rail industry.
To carry more freight, the freight rail industry will need more capacity, which depends on both public and private investments. State government highway officials estimate that railroads will only generate $142 billion to invest on their own over the next 20 years, but rail infrastructure needs are estimated to be more than $200 billion.
Congress is starting to take notice. This summer a bipartisan group of senators led by Rep. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and Rep. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), introduced the Freight Rail Infrastructure Capacity Expansion Act to stimulate transportation infrastructure investment. The legislation would provide any organization, including railroads, trucking companies and shipping lines a 25 percent tax credit for their investments. For railroads, the tax incentive would apply to infrastructure such as new track, intermodal facilities and state-of-the-art locomotives all essential to helping the rail industry continue to provide on-time, quality service to shippers and boost their share of freight transport. The American Association of Port Authorities and Waterfront Coalition, including organizations such as Home Depot and Target, support this legislation.
We must prepare now for a surge in freight volume and fight gridlock across our nation. Freight rail provides an excellent strategy.
Wendell Cox is president and chief executive of Demographia, a public policy research firm focusing on demographics, development impacts, market research and urban policy. He received a grant from the Association of American Railroads to conduct the study he references in this report.
