Proposals for Enhancing the Consideration of Freight Issues in the Planning Process

Technical Process Changes Technical Process Changes Institutional Changes Institutional Changes Legislative Changes Legislative Changes Other Changes Freight Planning Workshop Proceedings Other Changes 10-13 July 2001 Detroit Michigan

“Opportunity Proposals” for Better Freight Planning

The breakout sessions represented the cornerstone of the Freight Transportation Planning Workshop where participants broke into six groups to identify opportunities to improve consideration of freight in the transportation planning process. Hundreds of opportunities were identified in the first round of breakout sessions and eleven were selected for further development. In the second round of breakout sessions, participants were asked to develop proposals for how the transportation planning process could be changed to better accommodate freight and then to group their recommendations as either technical process changes, institutional changes, or legislative changes. Those proposals are detailed below and can be found in Microsoft Powerpoint form in the Appendix. The breakout process used is detailed on the last page of this section.

Transportation Planning Element: Goals & Objectives Proposal: Develop the vision Proposal: Make freight a priority—Identify freight What: related performance measures Long Range Plans (LRPs)are constrained by timeframes and resources. The vision for a given area’s transportation system should be developed irrespective of these limitations, and the long- What: range plans should become the resource-based No planning process is complete without consideration of incremental implementation plans. freight performance measures at all levels (local, state and federal). Create performance measures package by suitable means (FHWA, consultants). How to Implement: Writing down the vision is key to implementing this proposal. Also, there must be all inclusive How to Implement: public involvement. While a vision is not Implementing this proposal consists simply of identifying dependent on funding, it is somewhat important and carrying these measures. This group viewed the to be realistic—the LRP represents a reality- changes required as institutional in nature in that guidance based approach to implementing the vision. The as opposed to policy is required. vision stays constant, while options in the future may change.

Changes Required: Changes Required:

Technical Process Changes Technical Process Changes Technical Process Changes Technical Process Changes Institutional Changes Institutional Changes Institutional Changes  Institutional Changes Legislative Changes  Legislative Changes Legislative Changes Legislative Changes Other Changes Other Changes Other Changes Other Changes

Transportation Planning Element: Transportation Planning Element: Long Range Plan

Freight Planning Workshop—Breakout Proposals for Better Freight Planning 10 Freight Planning Workshop Proceedings 10-13 July 2001 Detroit Michigan

Data Proposal: Proposal: Develop a family of freight models Develop strategic freight data and analytical capabilities. What: Link freight models together to enable more What: comprehensive freight flow/economic analysis. Establish a consistent set of freight data available to all levels of governments, the public, and private industry. How to Implement: Work with stakeholders to identify existing How to Implement: models, analytic needs, and uses of various In order to implement this recommendation, process, models. Identify gaps in current models and technical, institutional and legislative changes would need consider how models could be linked to provide to be made. Process changes would include: more comprehensive analysis. In order to understanding end users and their data needs, knowing implement this proposal, common specifications what data is out there, identifying gaps, forming impartial for models and data would have to be developed group with neutral facilitator such as universities, and legislators should provide resources. Most developing goals, and developing performance measures. likely the work would have to be contracted out Technical changes include establishment of an unless significant in-house expertise existed. architecture, protocol, and standards; use of International Trade Data System (ITDS), GIS, and the ITS The benefits of linking models would include the Architecture, and development of one interoperable ability to leverage the value of previous freight transponder. Institutional changes include establishing a model investments, getting the players to talk clearinghouse (“one-stop”), securing private sector buy- and share information, and allowing multi-state in, establishing partnerships with Canada and Mexico, freight analysis. and involving other federal agencies. The one legislative recommendation is to have USDOT develop a common framework. Pay-offs associated with this recommendation include getting players to talk and share, consistent inputs for evaluation, and opening the door for national and international thinking.

Changes Required:  Changes Required: Technical Process Changes  Technical Process Changes Institutional Changes  Institutional Changes Legislative Changes  Legislative Changes Other Changes Other Changes

Transportation Planning Element: Transportation Planning Element: Data

Public/Agency Involvement Public/Agency Involvement

Proposal: Proposal: Conduct outreach efforts to engage and Use easily-implementable “jump-start” educate shippers, carriers, general public, and projects as a way to energize the private local decision makers sector and more fully involve them in the planning process What: Freight is disadvantaged in the planning process largely What: because of a lack of understanding on the part of the general public, the private sector, and public decision- “Jump-start” projects are good way to engage makers. The private sector often does not understand and energize private sector in the planning public planning and programming process--and vice process. They provide immediate and visible versa. The general public often does not fully appreciate results, foster a spirit of cooperation and trust, the importance of freight and its local effects. Public and offer solid cost/benefit impacts (cheap decision-makers often do not understand freight issues projects-huge payoffs). and how to address those issues. How to Implement: How to Implement: In order to conduct successful outreach In order to conduct successful outreach campaigns, it will campaigns, it will be important to do the be important to do the following: following:  Achieve“buy-ins” from MPO/DOT decision-makers  Ensure inter-agency and intra-agency “buy- to make freight a priority, in” before private sector is contacted,  Identify internal and external resources available for  Identify “best-practices” and “lessons freight issues (single point of contact?), learned” from other attempts to engage the  Make initial contacts with private sector freight private sector and identify potential jump- stakeholders, start projects,  Develop curriculum with which to guide initial  Ensure all freight modes are represented outreach efforts, (some jump-start projects have truck bias), and  Enlist assistance from Chamber of Commerce/Economic Development agencies, and  Link identification of jump-start projects education/outreach efforts.  Require freight outreach component within public involvement plans. Changes Required: Changes Required: o planning process is complete without consideration of Technical Process Changes Technical Process Changes Technical Process Changes freight performanceTechnical measures Process at Changes all levels (local State and Institutional Changes Federal).Institutional Create performance Changes measures package by suitable Institutional Changes Institutional Changes  means (FHWA, consultants). Legislative Changes Legislative Changes Legislative Changes Legislative Changes Other Changes Other Changes Other Changes Other Changes

Transportation Planning Element:

Transportation Planning Element: Public/Agency Involvement Public/Agency Involvement Proposal: Proposal: Establish performance measures for Broaden voting membership to include freight freight

What : What : Expand membership from MPOs and statewide decision- Establish short-, medium-, and long-term makers to include the private sector such as facility performance measures to measure freight value. owners, carriers, shippers, and transportation providers. How to Implement:

 Set realistic goals that can be measured,  “Increase safety” is too vague,  Ensure measures are relevant to stakeholders to secure buy-in,  Develop Freight Task Force,  Cooperatively develop performance measures, How to Implement:  Promote private/public sector coordination, In order to improve the representation of freight,  Competing modal interests, institutional and cultural barriers need to be identified  Address shipper concerns, and such as public and private dichotomies. Also, neutral  Collect baseline data and best practices. professional staff would be required. The following are considered to be good first steps in implementing this Examples of goals that could be evaluated: recommendation:  Improve level of service for freight significant corridors or make sure it does not decline,  Change the organizational structure,  Improve time to move freight within  Create a task force with a private sector chair who urbanized areas, votes,  Improve access into and out of metropolitan areas  Provide neutral, professional staff,  Improve performance on key freight NHS  Consider financial incentives to help the private connectors sector participate, and  Performance measures for reliability  Incident management  Educate tax payers that freight is a customer/user of  Reduce conflicts at grade crossings transportation assets.  Eliminate substandard clearances for railroads - double-stack accommodations, Changes Required: and  Improve multi-modal access to intermodal facilities Technical Process Changes Technical Process Changes Institutional Changes Changes Required:  Institutional Changes Legislative Changes Legislative Changes Technical Process Changes Technical Process Changes Other Changes  Other Changes Institutional Changes  Institutional Changes Legislative Changes Transportation Planning Element: Legislative Changes Other Changes Other Changes Freight Planning Workshop—Breakout Proposals for Better Freight Planning 13 Freight Planning Workshop Proceedings 10-13 July 2001 Detroit Michigan

How the Process Worked:

The breakout sessions focused on the five steps of the Figure 2 depicts votes across the enabling areas and transportation planning process outlined in Jim Cramer’s shows that while each of the enabling areas was presentation (see Appendix B-5) and the six enabling considered to be a high priority, recommendations to elements of that process (i.e., goals/objectives, data, etc.). improve development of goals and objectives, and Participants were asked to individually draft management of data were considered to be most recommendations to improve each of the process areas as important. well as enabling elements. The goal of this session was to get as many ideas as possible on paper. After discussion to refine the recommendations as a group, participants T e c h n i c a l T o o l s were given five votes each and were instructed to allocate P u b l i c / A g e n c y I n v o l v e m e n t one to the recommendation in each process area they O r g a n i z a t i o n viewed as the most important. Top-ranked D a t a recommendations then received a “red” vote, signaling a G o a l s / O b j e c t i v e s top priority of the group. “Red” votes were then tallied for each group in both the process areas and enabling 0 5 10 15 20 25 elements to indicate where the highest priority # Values recommendations were made. Figure 1 depicts the allocation of votes across the planning process and shows that most recommendations centered in the areas of developing and evaluating alternatives, and developing Figure 2: Relative Importance of Improvement long-range plans. Recommendations for Enabling Elements

Develop S/TIP In the second session, participants were assigned one or two high priority opportunities for improvement and were Develop LRP challenged to develop proposals for implementing Develop Alternatives changes and enhancements to the planning process to Identify Deficiencies better address freight issues. They were asked to define

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 “what the opportunity is and how it could work” and to identifying potential institutional, technical, and # Votes legislative changes the change might require. Output from these sessions, as well the detailed facilitator guides can be found in the Appendix C. Figure 1: Relative Importance of Planning Process Improvement Recommendations

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