Researcher Sees Better Hazmat Options Than Rerouting Trains

ASHINGTON — Using other modes of transportation, including trucks, to move highly hazardous materials is a better alternative than rerouting train shipments around cities that limit hazmat movements, an official with the Center for Transportation Analysis said.

“Trucking is a more feasible alternative to rerouting rails carrying hazmats because the highway network provides an infinite number of routes trucks can take,” Shih-Miao Chin, a research scientist, told Transport Topics.

Overall, Chin said the best solution would be to transport hazmats “via ocean routes or inland waterways to ports closer to a shipment’s final destination. That would avoid highly populated areas, as well as cities that have adopted hazmat bans.”