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Assessment of Innovative and Automated Freight Strategies and Technologies—Phase I Final Report

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Technical Report Documentation Page 1. Report No. 2. Government Accession No. 3. Recipient's Catalog No. FHWA/TX-17/0-6837-1 4. Title and Subtitle 5. Report Date ASSESSMENT OF INNOVATIVE AND AUTOMATED FREIGHT February 2017 STRATEGIES AND TECHNOLOGIES—PHASE I FINAL REPORT 6. Performing Organization Code 7. Author(s) 8. Performing Organization Report No. Curtis Morgan, Jeffery Warner, Allan Rutter, Dahye Lee, C. James Report 0-6837-1 Kruse, Dong Hun Kang, Mario Monsreal, Jolanda Prozzi, Juan Carlos Villa, Jeffrey Borowiec, Leslie Olson, David Bierling, and Edwin Varela 9. Performing Organization Name and Address 10. Work Unit No. (TRAIS) Texas A&M Transportation Institute The Texas A&M University System 11. Contract or Grant No. College Station, Texas 77843-3135 Project 0-6837 12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address 13. Type of Report and Period Covered Texas Department of Transportation Technical Report: Research and Technology Implementation Office March 2016 125 E. 11th Street 14. Sponsoring Agency Code Austin, Texas 78701-2483 15. Supplementary Notes Project performed in cooperation with the Texas Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration. Project Title: Assessment of Innovative and Automated Freight Systems and Development of Evaluation Tools URL: http://tti.tamu.edu/documents/0-6837-1.pdf 16. Abstract Many innovative freight delivery strategies and technologies have been proposed to address the future freight needs of Texas’s growing population. Changes in both buying habits and a shift toward direct home package delivery threaten to dramatically change distribution patterns and increase the number of intercity and local delivery trucks on Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) roadways. Emerging freight delivery technologies such as automated freight vehicles and innovative operational freight strategies such as nighttime off-peak-hour deliveries to businesses are potential ways to better use existing infrastructure. Unfortunately, TxDOT and local transportation planners currently lack an established process to evaluate operational changes or technology applications needed to ensure continued, timely flow of commercial freight through the Texas transportation system. The primary objective of Phase I of this project was to establish a process to evaluate freight operational changes or technology applications to ensure continued, timely flow of commercial freight through the Texas transportation system. This phase identified over 50 currently proposed freight strategies and technologies and evaluated them to determine which should be further evaluated for implementation in future project phases. 17. Key Words 18. Distribution Statement Freight System, Innovative Freight Technologies, No restrictions. This document is available to the Freight Project Evaluation, Automated Freight, public through NTIS: Freight Movement, Freight Mobility, Intercity National Technical Information Service Freight Corridors, Urban Freight Delivery, Major Alexandria, Virginia Freight Generators, Intermodal Transfer http://www.ntis.gov 19. Security Classif. (of this report) 20. Security Classif. (of this page) 21. No. of Pages 22. Price Unclassified Unclassified 280 Form DOT F 1700.7 (8-72) Reproduction of completed page authorized ASSESSMENT OF INNOVATIVE AND AUTOMATED FREIGHT STRATEGIES AND TECHNOLOGIES—PHASE I FINAL REPORT by Curtis Morgan Jeffery Warner Program Manager, Multimodal Freight Assistant Research Scientist Texas A&M Transportation Institute Texas A&M Transportation Institute Allan Rutter Dahye Lee Director, Freight Mobility Division Graduate Assistant Researcher Texas A&M Transportation Institute Texas A&M Transportation Institute C. James Kruse Dong Hun Kang, Ph.D. Director, Center for Ports & Waterways Associate Transportation Researcher Texas A&M Transportation Institute Texas A&M Transportation Institute Mario Monsreal, Ph.D. Jolanda Prozzi Associate Research Scientist Program Manager, Environment and Planning Texas A&M Transportation Institute Texas A&M Transportation Institute Juan Carlos Villa Jeffrey Borowiec, Ph.D. Program Manager, Latin America Research Scientist Texas A&M Transportation Institute Texas A&M Transportation Institute Leslie Olson David Bierling, Ph.D. Associate Research Scientist Associate Research Scientist Texas A&M Transportation Institute Texas A&M Transportation Institute Edwin Varela Assistant Transportation Researcher Texas A&M Transportation Institute Report 0-6837-1 Project 0-6837 Project Title: Assessment of Innovative and Automated Freight Systems and Development of Evaluation Tools Performed in cooperation with the Texas Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration February 2017 TEXAS A&M TRANSPORTATION INSTITUTE College Station, Texas 77843-3135 DISCLAIMER This research was performed in cooperation with the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). The contents of this report reflect the views of the authors, who are responsible for the facts and the accuracy of the data presented herein. The contents do not necessarily reflect the official view or policies of FHWA or TxDOT. This report does not constitute a standard, specification, or regulation. The United States Government and the State of Texas do not endorse products or manufacturers. Trade or manufacturers’ names appear herein solely because they are considered essential to the object of this report. v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This project was conducted in cooperation with TxDOT and FHWA. The authors thank Wade Odell, the TxDOT research and technology implementation project director, and the members of the TxDOT project team panel: Caroline Mays, TxDOT Freight and International Trade section head; Roger Schiller, TxDOT Maritime Division; and Chad Coburn, TxDOT Rail Division. The authors would also like to thank the following Texas A&M Transportation Institute staff for acting in an advisory role and as a subject matter expert panel to prioritize and rank the identified freight strategies and technologies during this project phase: David Schrank, Bill Stockton, Stephen Roop, Robert Cuellar, Mohammad Poorsartep, and Christopher Poe. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page List of Figures ............................................................................................................................... ix List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. x Chapter 1. Background and Project Overview .......................................................................... 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 1 Research Overview ..................................................................................................................... 1 Research Objectives ................................................................................................................ 2 Research Approach ................................................................................................................. 2 Report Organization .................................................................................................................... 3 Chapter 2. Major Freight Transportation Concerns ................................................................ 5 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 5 Freight Planning Background ..................................................................................................... 5 Major Freight Transportation Concerns of the Business Community in Texas ..................... 5 Major Freight Transportation Concerns of MPOs .................................................................. 7 Major Concerns Identified within the Texas Freight Mobility Plan ..................................... 12 Chapter 3. Multimodal Freight Project Prioritization Methods Literature Review ............ 13 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 13 Prioritization Methods .............................................................................................................. 13 Oregon DOT: Multimodal Freight Project Prioritization Methods, 2014 ............................ 13 TxDOT/CTR: Developing Emerging Transportation Technologies in Texas, 2013 ............ 15 Transportation Research Board: NCHRP Report 750 Strategic Issues Facing Transportation—Volume 3: Expediting Future Technologies for Enhancing Transportation System Performance, 2013 ............................................................... 18 Ohio General Assembly: Transportation Review Advisory Council: Policy and Procedures, 2013 ....................................................................................................... 20 TxDOT/TTI: Identification of Priority Rail Projects for Texas—Initial Methodology/User Manual and Guidebook, 2012 .................................................... 23 Transportation Research Board: NCFRP Report 12: Framework and Tools for Estimating Benefits of Specific Freight Network Investments, 2011 ....................... 25 Florida DOT: The Florida Rail System Plan: Investment Element, 2010, and Strategic Investment Tool, 2008 ............................................................................... 28
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