Investing in Mobility FREIGHT TRANSPORT IN THE HUDSON REGION THE EAST OF HUDSON RAIL FREIGHT OPERATIONS TASK FORCE Investing in Mobility FREIGHT TRANSPORT IN THE HUDSON REGION Environmental Defense and the East of Hudson Rail Freight Operations Task Force On the cover Left:Trucks exacerbate crippling congestion on the Cross-Bronx Expressway (photo by Adam Gitlin). Top right: A CSX Q116-23 intermodal train hauls double-stack containers in western New York. (photo by J. Henry Priebe Jr.). Bottom right: A New York Cross Harbor Railroad “piggypacker” transfers a low-profile container from rail to a trailer (photo by Adam Gitlin). Environmental Defense is dedicated to protecting the environmental rights of all people, including the right to clean air, clean water, healthy food and flourishing ecosystems. Guided by science, we work to create practical solutions that win lasting political, economic and social support because they are nonpartisan, cost-effective and fair. The East of Hudson Rail Freight Operations Task Force is committed to the restoration of price- and service-competitive freight rail service in the areas of the New York metropolitan region east of the Hudson River. The Task Force seeks to accomplish this objective through bringing together elected officials, carriers and public agencies at regularly scheduled meetings where any issue that hinders or can assist in the restoration of competitive rail service is discussed openly. It is expected that all participants will work toward the common goal of restoring competitive rail freight service East of the Hudson. ©2004 Environmental Defense Printed on 100% (50% post-consumer) recycled paper, 100% chlorine free. The complete report is available online at www.environmentaldefense.org. Contents Foreword . .v Executive summary . .vi 1. Accommodating more freight traffic while improving mobility . .vii 2. A deficient East-of-Hudson freight rail network . .ix 3. Setting goals and criteria for freight transport investments . .ix 4. Evolving freight rail technology and expansion opportunities . .x 5. A downstate cross-Hudson rail link and better freight rail infrastructure . .xi 6. A regional mobility plan . .xi 7. Financing and planning . .xiii PART A: AN OVERVIEW OF FREIGHT TRANSPORT IN THE . .1 HUDSON REGION Chapter 1: Growth in highway freight traffic . .2 1.1 The region’s boundaries . .3 1.2 A regional perspective on moving goods . .4 1.3 The movement of regional goods East-of-Hudson versus West-of-Hudson . .5 1.4 Predicted growth in freight traffic . .6 1.5 The highway system’s ability to handle growth . .12 1.6 Conclusion . .17 Chapter 2: The current freight rail network . .19 2.1 A system not adequately connected to the national network . .19 2.2 Freight rail to the West: modern, efficient, and accessible . .20 2.3 Freight rail to the East: underused, isolated, and outdated . .23 2.4 Improvement issues . .27 2.5 Rail projects currently underway and in the planning stage . .31 2.6 Conclusion . .35 PART B: IMPROVING REGIONAL MOBILITY . .37 Chapter 3: Goals and criteria for assessing freight transport . .38 investments 3.1 The potential for a capacity investment to reduce congestion . .38 3.2 The comparative impacts of highway and freight rail investments in . .39 adjacent land and communities 3.3 Comparative impacts of highway and freight rail investments in air quality . .39 and fossil-fuel energy consumption 3.4 Comparative development impacts of investments in highway and rail . .41 3.5 Comparative total capital and maintenance costs of highway and freight . .42 rail investments 3.6 Security and transportation-option diversification . .42 3.7 Conclusion . .42 Chapter 4: Freight railroad technological development and . .44 institutional trends 4.1 Faster service . .45 4.2 Advanced intermodal transport . .50 4.3 Advanced carfloats . .55 4.4 Environmental and quality-of-life improvements . .57 4.5 Better customer service . .59 4.6 Conclusion . .59 Chapter 5: Options for improving freight mobility . .62 5.1 A revitalized freight rail system: crossing the Hudson . .62 5.2 Revitalizing freight rail with improved infrastructure . .67 5.3 Conclusion . .71 iii Chapter 6: A comprehensive mobility plan . .72 6.1 Freight rail improvements . .72 6.2 Reducing congestion by investing in transit . .74 6.3 The impact of congestion pricing . .76 6.4 Conclusion . .78 Chapter 7: Financing and planning for renewing the region’s railroads . .80 7.1 Seeking federal funds for rail infrastructure . .80 7.2 Financing improvements in freight rail . .84 7.3 Better planning to increase mobility . .85 7.4 Making the network of tracks East-of-Hudson available to all freight . .86 carriers SUMMARY OF REPORT FINDINGS . .89 FIGURES Figure 1-1: EDC Cross Harbor Freight Movement Project EIS internal . .3 study area Figure 1-2: The NYMTC region . .4 Figure 1-3: Cross Harbor Region top commodities by weight . .5 Figure 1-4: Top commodities move in the East-of-Hudson Region-by weight . .7 Figure 1-5: Mode splits by tonnage hauled, 2000 . .8 Figure 1-6: 2025 East-of-Hudson mode split-EDC . .10 Figure 1-7: Top 10 regional (NYMTC) commodities in 1998 and 2025 . .11 Figure 1-8: Average number of total annual truck trips-adjusted comparison . .13 between NYMTC and EDC studies Figure 1-9: Annual delay per peak road traveler, 1982-2000 . .15 Figure 1-10: New York region Travel Time Index (TTI), 1982-2000 . .15 Figure 2-1: The Selkirk detour . .24 Figure 2-2: The freight rail network east of the Hudson River . .26 Figure 3-1: National transportation sector CO2 emissions and ton-miles of . .40 freight hauled, 2001 Figure 4-1: Energy intensity of Class I railroads . .57 Figure 5-1: Proposed EDC tunnel alignments . .64 Figure 6-1: Increasing regional mobility . .73 Figure 7-1: Nonattainment areas map EPA Region 2 (New York, New Jersey, . .83 Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands) TABLES Table 1-1: The Hudson region’s major trading partners . .4 Table 1-2: Hudson regional and subregional freight hauled in 2000 . .6 Table 1-3: The East-of-Hudson subregion’s major trading partners . .6 Table 1-4: The West-of-Hudson subregion’s major trading partners . .7 Table 1-5: Notable differences between the EDC and NYMTC studies . .12 Table 2-1: Minimum height clearances for intermodal cars . .29 Table 2-2: AAR height designations for common freight cars . .30 Table 4-1: Average train speeds . .46 iv Foreword Environmental Defense and the East of Hudson Rail Freight Operations Task Force (Task Force) embarked on writing this report 18 months ago. It seemed to us that environmental and civic groups interested in transportation had paid far less attention to freight transport planning issues than to highway and transit planning issues. Indeed, environmental organizations have published few studies on regional freight mobility. Yet, it is evident that the New York metropolitan region is highly dependent on trucks for moving freight, that truck traffic has been growing steadily, and that, therefore, truck traffic has been making an increasing contribution to highway congestion that is more and more endemic in the region. In general, the whole problem of regional freight mobility in the New York metro- politan region, perhaps in other metropolitan areas as well, has been under-appre- ciated. For these reasons, we deemed it timely to prepare a report that describes the region’s freight mobility challenge and proposes a framework for assessing alterna- tive investments in freight rail, highway and transit capacity that might improve the region’s ability to deal with growing highway congestion in response to increased passenger and goods transport demand. The authors of this report include Stergios Athanassoglou, a former Environ- mental Defense research intern, now a doctoral student in the Department of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research at Columbia University, William B. Galligan, chief of staff of the Task Force that Congressmen Jerrold Nadler and Christopher Shays co-chair, Adam Gitlin, a research fellow at Environmental Defense, Alexander H. Jordan, Daniel Mattingly, a 2003 summer intern at Envi- ronmental Defense, Constantine Sidamon-Eristoff, managing director of the Task Force, and James T. B. Tripp, Environmental Defense general counsel. Andrew Darrell, director of the Living Cities Program, and Michael Replogle, transporta- tion director, both at Environmental Defense, Alex Brown, formerly at Cambridge Systematics, and individuals at NYMTC, the Port Authority and EDC have reviewed sections of this report for technical accuracy. We very much appreciate their assistance. While the East of Hudson Rail Freight Task Force and Environmental Defense have sponsored the preparation of this report, the corporate and govern- mental entities represented on the Task Force have not individually endorsed the report and its findings. The authors are very grateful to the J.M. Kaplan Fund, New York Community Trust, and the Surdna Foundation, Inc., for their very generous support that has made this report possible. v Executive summary Highway congestion in the New York metropolitan area is escalating. Slow traffic frustrates commuters, puts New York’s businesses at a competitive disadvantage, and leads to unnecessary air pollution and emissions of greenhouse gases. Conges- tion is not only a multibillion dollar drain on the area’s economy; it is also a health risk, as smog and fine particulates from idling trucks and cars contribute to the region’s high asthma rates among children. Over the next 20 years, traffic on the region’s highways will get much worse if truck and car traffic increases at the projected rates, among them an increase in truck vehicle miles traveled of over 200 billion. Historically, state transportation agencies have tried to solve the traffic problem in part by building more highways, but despite their.