2014 Freight Transportation Needs and Issues

Freight transportation—the process of transporting goods by truck, rail, marine, air and pipeline—is the economic engine that sustains and grows our global economy. The complexity of the freight transportation system makes it difficult to communicate freight transportation needs and issues to stakeholders and the average citizen when planning and implementing transportation plans and projects.

With our growing population, freight demand across the United States and the world is increasing significantly, contributing to congestion on roadways, at ports and at border crossings. This growth in freight transportation places additional burdens on an already vulnerable transportation infrastructure; affects the safety, security and efficiency of the overall transportation network; impacts the environment; and generates public policy issues and concerns. Adding to this complexity are different public/private roles by modes; rapidly developing Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) technologies affecting the freight network; freight planning and funding challenges; multi-modal connectivity problems; and community impacts.

To share innovative approaches, the Planning and Environment Group of the Transportation Research Board searched for best practices in communicating the results of transportation models and simulations and incorporating public input into these analyses. Four recipients were selected for their communication efforts. These communication tools epitomize the spirit of communicating complex information in an uncomplicated manner.

We Can Meet This Challenge Together: 2014 Washington State Freight Plan

Washington State Department of Transportation

To clearly explain the 2014 Washington State Freight Mobility Plan, WSDOT developed several easily digested communications tools to help inform and engage the public about the plan’s findings and recommendations. An Executive Summary provides a shortened, reader-friendly version highlighting the plan’s five key findings. For the first time WSDOT created supply chain maps that show where key state industry sectors cluster on the Freight Economic Corridors. A dynamic, animated infographic briefly explains how the freight system helps sustain Washington’s economy. And a video featuring Orion Aerospace employees launches WSDOT’s “Freight Matters” – a series of talks with freight-dependent businesses personalizing the value of freight in their lives.

Each element explains the value of the system to non-technical viewers and leads to the same call to action: We can meet this challenge together. Washington’s freight system needs preservation, increased mobility, and participation from Washington residents in every industry, every government level, and every planning organization to implement the plan. With the engaging infographic and personal aspect of the Freight Matters video series, WSDOT significantly expanded its reach and potential to improve the state’s freight system for today and the future. http://2014wsdotfreightmobilityplan.businesscatalyst.com

Pro Motion

Florida Department of Transportation

The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) is actively working to set the context for what freight is—and how freight and multimodal initiatives are important to Florida’s economy and quality of life—through a public education and awareness campaign, titled Pro Motion. Pro Motion is progressing in effectively communicating freight needs and issues to the public, while stimulating stakeholder involvement in the process of moving Florida forward.

The FDOT and partners have implemented the Freight Moves Florida logistics portal to serve as a platform for the Pro Motion outreach. Created through a partnership, Enterprise Florida, Workforce Florida, the Florida Chamber of Commerce, and the FDOT, the Freight Moves Florida logistics portal serves as a one-stop-shop for Florida logistics. Pro Motion is being involved, stimulating partnerships, and encouraging outreach.

http://www.freightmovesflorida.com

FREIGHTWORKS: Southern California Delivers the Goods

Southern California Association of Governments

The six-county region represented by the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) includes the nation’s largest container port complex; the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach; key land ports-of-entry between California and Baja California, Mexico; and over 830 million square feet of warehousing space served by an extensive network of highways and rail mainlines.

To highlight the importance of investing in the transport- tation system to transport goods, SCAG developed the following communication materials:

• Video: “Southern California Delivers the Goods” that highlights how imported goods are transported from one mode to the other through an extensive transportation network, while undergoing multiple handling processes before arriving at a store shelf.

• Infographic: “BY THE NUMBERS: Goods Movement in Southern California” that provides interesting facts about goods movement activities in Southern California.

http://www.freightworks.org

Competition Honorable Mention: Norfolk Southern Exhibition Car

Norfolk Southern Railway Corporation

Norfolk Southern’s showcase on wheels, the Exhibition Car is a rolling museum of modern transportation technology. It has served as a goodwill ambassador for Norfolk Southern and the rail industry. In three decades of service as an Exhibition Car, NS 27 has opened its doors to more than 1.5 million people in some 300 cities where the car has toured. The exhibit car features the following:

• Displays inside the car illustrate how people and technology support freight safely.

• Locomotive simulator provides visitors a chance to see life from an engineer’s point of view.

• Mock-up of a locomotive combines computer animation with realistic controls – complete with horn, throttle, and brake – to demonstrate the dangers of trespassing on railroad property.

• Train-dispatching center uses video presentations and a lighted system board to portray movements on an imaginary operating division, and illustrate how people in a dispatching office – the nerve center of the railroad – manage hundreds of trains daily to provide safe and efficient transportation services.

http://www.nscorp.com/content/nscorp/en.html