By Timothy Cama, Staff Reporter This story appears in the June 24 print edition of Transport Topics.
UNCASVILLE, Conn. — A U.S. Department of Transportation official said although progress has been made toward developing a national freight plan, finding funding remains a hurdle.
Congress required DOT to complete a national freight strategic plan by September 2015 as part of last year’s highway-funding law known as MAP-21.
Jack Wells, DOT’s senior economist, said the agency has kicked off many of the steps it will take to complete that task.
Speaking at a conference organized by transportation data firm SMC3, Wells said a first major step is preparing a report on the existing infrastructure system’s condition. That must be completed by September 2014.
“We’re working on that intensively right now because that has a tighter deadline than the national freight strategic plan,” Wells said. “The idea is that if you have a goal, you need to have a measure that corresponds to the goal, so that you know how much progress you’re making in working toward that goal.”
Wells said DOT recognizes that infrastructure investment requires funding, and that might mean raising the federal fuel tax, the main engine for highway funding. However, gaining support for a tax increase is difficult, he said.
“It’s remarkable, in a way, how much [opposition] there is whenever the possibility of an increase in the fuel tax is proposed,” Wells said. “It’s a very difficult political sell.”
Wells also said the bulk of the work in writing the report on current conditions revolves around finding measures for each mode of freight transportation. DOT will reach out to representatives of those modes for help, Wells said.
DOT recently named 47 members to a new advisory committee, which consists of outside stakeholders to help with the freight plan.
“We plan to use that committee fairly intensively as a source of outreach,” Wells said. DOT also will designate subcommittees to work on specific parts of the plan.
In October, the agency released guidelines to help states develop their freight plans. MAP-21 allows states to dedicate more federal funding to freight projects if they write such plans.
DOT also has launched some specific studies for the national freight plan, including ones on the effects the expanded Panama Canal will have on U.S. port activity, the role of freight infrastructure on exports and the demand for freight-specific infrastructure by carriers.
Jim Newsome, CEO of the South Carolina Ports Authority, told attendees at the conference the United States needs a freight plan so projects such as harbor deepening can be prioritized for federal funding.
“We have to make a strategic plan, with some priorities, and it’s very difficult to realize that not everybody’s going to be happy with that plan,” Newsome said.
