Port of Pittsburgh Commission (PPC) TIGER Grant Application Building a Waterway - Intelligent Transportation System (W-ITS): Improving Efficiency, Safety, Security and Competitiveness FUNDING AGENCY: Department of Transportation, Office of the Secretary PROGRAM: TIGER PROJECT: Building a Waterway – Intelligent Transportation System (W-ITS) for the Nation’s Inland Waterways (Combining Automatic Identification System (AIS) and Wireless Broadband Technologies) PROJECT COST: $36.507 million FUNDING REQUEST: $35.210 million PROJECT LOCATION: River systems in 24 states covering 12,000 miles of commercially navigable waterways APPLICANT: Port of Pittsburgh Commission (PPC) CONTACT INFORMATION: Mr. James McCarville, Executive Director 425 Sixth Avenue, Suite 2990 Pittsburgh, PA 15219 412-201-7335 (telephone) 412-201-7337 (fax) [email protected] PPC DUNS: # 933973091 ELIGIBILITY: The Port of Pittsburgh Commission (PPC) is a Commission of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. PPC CONGRESS. DIST: PA – 3, 4, 5, 12, 14 AND 18 PROJECT AREA: AL, AR, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, MN, MS, MO, NE, OH, OK, OR, PA, SD, TN, WA, WV, WI PPC INFORMATION: www.port.pittsburgh.pa.us SUPPORT DOCS: http://www.port.pittsburgh.pa.us/home/index.asp?page=202 Project Narrative I. Summary This project would fund the deployment of two proven transportation communication technologies at locations throughout the nation’s Inland Waterway Transportation System (Waterways). It would enable faster, better and more reliable collection and transmission of data. The data gathered and transmitted would change operational patterns and transform both public and private decision-making. This would create a platform for a safer and more secure, more efficient and more competitive waterway system and create a more efficient and competitive system of multi-modal transportation in and out of the port terminals. II. Overview The nation’s Waterways consist of 12,000 miles of commercially navigable rivers comprising 27 river systems in 38 states moving $70 billion in cargo annually through 200 sets of locks and dams. The Waterways move 14% of the nation’s intercity freight, approximately 624 million tons of cargo a year (Bureau of Transportation Statistics). The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) expects that number to increase. Maintaining even the existing volumes, and any additional growth, requires the optimal utilization of road, rail, and waterway capacities and the integration of digital communications to reduce congestion, conserve energy, protect the environment and improve safety, security efficiency and competitiveness. The Waterways, when operating efficiently, can alleviate the need for highway expansion and reduce environmental degradation. When operating inefficiently, they place additional stresses on the other modes. Barging is the least expensive mode of surface transportation for the private sector, plus it has significant public benefits, consuming less fuel and emitting fewer emissions than trucks and trains. The Waterways provide the most energy efficient mode of travel with a barge moving one ton of cargo 576 miles per gallon of fuel -- compared to 413 miles by rail and 155 miles by truck -- with fewer accidents, fatalities, oil spills and emissions than rail or trucks moving comparable ton-miles. While the Waterways offer opportunities to efficiently move even more freight, they also face impediments. Structural expansion of the system is costly and impractical and the aging lock and dam infrastructure requires all of the inland navigation resources normally available to USACE, just to maintain and rehabilitate key parts of the system. The National Academy of Sciences1, the General Accounting Office2 and the Committee 1 Inland Navigation System Planning: The Upper Mississippi River-Illinois Waterway, National Academy Press http://www.nap.edu, 2001 National Academy of Sciences 2 GAO‐07‐55T, Transportation Challenges Facing Congress and the Department of Transportation, March 6, 2007 1 on the Marine Transportation System3 (CMTS), have all stressed the importance of seeking non-structural alternatives for waterway improvements. This project is a non- structural way to make the “greenest”, most economical form of surface transportation safer, more efficient and even more environmentally friendly. Digital communications on the Waterways, to date, have not been modernized to take full advantage of other technology developments. Cell phone air cards have limited bandwidth with spotty coverage in rural areas. Satellite connections have sufficient bandwidth, but are expensive and impractical for transmission of large amounts of data. Some pilots still make handwritten reports to hand-pass to each lockmaster as they transit through each lock, a time when both the pilot and the lock operator should be concerned with other tasks. These handwritten reports are frequently inaccurate, requiring time- consuming USACE data reconciliation. The communications technology described in this proposal would transform waterway operations and lead to better decision-making in both the private and public sector. The American Waterway Operators (AWO) has reviewed this project and believes it is consistent with their goal to improve the efficiency, safety, security and competitiveness of the Waterways in the global marketplace. USACE has endorsed the project and will provide technical advice to maximize its economic advantages during its deployment. Both have submitted letters of support found in the Appendices 2 and 3. III. Proposal The Port of Pittsburgh Commission proposes to deploy a Waterway-Intelligent Transportation System (hereafter called “Waterway-ITS” or “W-ITS”) platform, innovatively combining the advantages of two proven technologies: the Automatic Identification System (AIS) and the wireless broadband. This platform opens up a world of high-speed, two-way digital communication possibilities between pilots of different vessels; between pilots and port and/or lock operators; between pilots and their home office; and between home offices and government. It would also speed up cargo identification and determination of exact cargo location, essential information for coordinating barge shipments with rail or truck pickups. AIS. AIS is a short range tracking system used for identifying and locating vessels by electronically exchanging data with other nearby vessels and Vessel Tracking Stations. Information such as unique identification, position, course and speed can be displayed on a screen or an Electronic Navigation Chart. AIS assists the vessel's crew and allows maritime authorities to track and monitor critical vessel movements. AIS was also developed with the additional ability to broadcast positions and names of objects like 3 A Framework for Action: National Strategy for the Marine Transportation System July 2008, Committee on Marine Transportation System: 2 navigational aid and marker position, including potential future virtual aids to navigation. The International Maritime Organization's (IMO), International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) already requires AIS to be fitted aboard international voyaging ships with 300 or more Gross Tons.4 The US Coast Guard (USCG) has now installed AIS Phase I Receivers at major coastal seaports and is currently upgrading these seaport stations to Phase II Transponders for navigation safety and homeland security purposes. The seaport upgrades will take many years. The Inland Waterways are not currently scheduled for any AIS installation by the USCG, but the W-ITS project, coordinated with USCG, would take advantage of their Phase II technology. Commercial vessels, to participate in W-ITS, would have to install an AIS transponder at their own cost, to broadcast key vessel information, such as any hazardous cargo onboard, estimated time of arrival and destination, and other safety and voyage- related information. Many waterway vessels, especially those that also operate in coastal ports like Houston and New Orleans, already have these transponders installed. Through two-way correspondence, the AIS would populate the vessel display with data about itself, other vessels in the area, nearby locks and other aids to navigation. The cost of an AIS base station is $10,000 and installation at each site is estimated to cost $51,000, which includes mounting structures and connecting it to the internet to push data to a centralized server and to the USCG. USACE will provide in-kind support. Section III provides total cost for equipment, installation, and maintenance. Appendix B contains a letter from USACE endorsing this project and committing to provide access for its installation at their facilities. Figure 1 illustrates the base station components set up to receive vessel AIS transmissions. Although the USCG would like to deploy the AIS network, they are not currently funded to do so, nor do they, or any other federal agency, have the mission to deploy an integrated broadband network to support industry communications. Without TIGER funds, it will be impossible to deploy the W-ITS. 4http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_Identification_System 3 Figure 1 ‐ AIS Wireless Broadband. The other W-ITS component is wireless broadband communications to support vessel-to-vessel and vessel-to-shore two-way business and commerce transmissions. Figure 2 presents the concept. Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) has completed a report detailing the costs, practicality and benefits of deploying a wireless broadband system at 200