Rail Freight Trends at Selected U.S.-Canadian Border Crossings
Border Freight Scoping Study
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Transcript of Border Freight Scoping Study
Border Freight Scoping Border Freight Scoping StudyStudy
Scott SmithVolpe National Transportation Systems Center
23 October 2006
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Freight Scoping Study
• A three month effort– Late September – December 2006. – Funded by Section 5512 of SAFETEA-LU (TRANSIMS
development)– Sponsored by the U.S. Federal Highway Administration
• Objectives– Articulate the freight issues in Buffalo-Niagara Falls
area, and the decisions to be supported by improved modeling
– Identify available data for a freight model– Outline how TRANSIMS might be adapted for the
regional simulation of freight
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Presentation Outline
• What is the Transportation Analysis Simulation System (TRANSIMS)
• Findings to date– Freight issues– Decisions to be supported by improved
modeling– Data to support an improved model
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TRANSIMS
• Microsimulation model• Differences from conventional 4-step
– Simulation of individual entities e.g., households or freight movements
– Generation of tours– Not tied to
Traffic Analysis Zones (TAZ)Time-of-day buckets
– Detailed modeling of highways and intersections
• But, any model is only as good as the available data
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Freight Issues
• Cross-Border and Domestic• Freight Growth
– NAFTA– Feeder port possibility
• Primary mode is truck• Increasing need for reliable travel times• Congestion
– Cross Border– Other highway
Freight Flows throughNew York State
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Cross-Border CongestionIssues• Two crossings for commercial vehicles• NAFTA impact on commercial traffic• Congestion at borders and on highways• Security concerns
Initiatives• Warnings for truck queues• Pre-clearance
–FAST, NEXUS
• Bridge expansion• Inspection station relocation and expansion
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U.S. Domestic Issues
• Economic Growth• Congestion
–Grand Island Bridges Narrow lanes Steep grade
– I 90 / I 290 Interchange
• Non-freeway movements
– Route 219– Route 63
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Decisions to be Supported
• Grand Island Bridge Improvements
Peace Bridge and Plaza Improvements •
Queenston – Lewiston:Bridge, Plaza and Approach Improvements
• I90 / I290 Interchange
QEW Improvements
• Ferry• Mode shifts: truck to rail
Route 63
Route219
ITS Investments
Airport Area Development
Ontario
New York
Niagara Falls
Buffalo
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Data: Freight Movements
• Internal vs. External• Cross-border vs. domestic• X-X
– CCMTA National Roadside Study– Regional models (e.g., FAF)
•X-I– CCMTA National Roadside Study– Regional models (e.g., FAF)– Local economic forecasts– Local origins/destinations
• I-I– Urban goods movement
e.g., warehouse to retail
I-I
X-I
X-X
X-X
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Data: Traffic Flows
• All traffic–Existing regional model as a source of data –Background congestion
• Truck traffic• Sources
– Satellite tracking of trucks– Toll counts (classification)– Other traffic counts, including classification– Turning movement counts
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Data: Highway Network
• Four-step model– Link capacities
• Microsimulation model– Intersection capacity
Signals Turning lanes
– Road physical characteristics
Hills, curves Lane width
– Barriers Tolls, border crossings
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Topics for Discussion
• Issues affecting freight movements• Decisions to be supported• Scope of a planning model
– Domestic with cross-border coordination– Bi-national
• Data sources for traffic growth and mode split
• Data sources for origin-destination movements
• Data for modeling the highway network• Classification counts for calibration and
validation