A surge in goods through the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach has boosted traffic and revenues for the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority. But the increase also has meant that the 20-mile rail line is no closer to its goal of reducing truck traffic to and from the port complex by 50 percent.

An average of 5,035 containers per day moved along the Alameda Corridor in 2004, a 16.4 percent increase from the year-earlier daily average of 4,323 containers.

While the pace of growth in rail activity outpaced the 10.6 percent increase in containers handled by the port complex last year, the sheer increase in port volume continues to weigh heavily on nearby roadways.

The $2.4 billion transitway stretching from the ports to the rail yards east of downtown Los Angeles was intended to relieve the mass of traffic congestion on the Long Beach (710) Freeway and nearby surface streets. But even as its share of the inland shipping business has climbed, a spike in the volume coming into the ports has put even more trucks on the streets.

The Port of Long Beach moved 1.1 million more 20-foot equivalent containers in 2004 than 2003, while the Port of Los Angeles moved 100,000 more containers. But each 40-foot container not loaded onto trains is put on a single truck, and about 23,000 port-related truck trips per weekday are made on the 710.

*A full version of this story will be available in the Feb. 14 edition of the Los Angeles Business Journal.