# Presentation: 533394

## Breakout Session Summary

## Recap of Breakout Session Goals/Objectives

- Identify/Begin development of workable approaches that can help assist States/MPOs with continuous effort to further integrate freight interests and considerations in the transportation planning process
- Examine current transportation planning process
- Improve understanding of current transportation planning process
- Assess ability of planning process to respond to freight issues
- Identify opportunities for improvements that will enhance freight planning
- Define changes necessary to make opportunities work
***	******OUTCOME:***  *Provide resource for addressing freight issues in TEA-21 Re-authorization process*

## Process Overview

- 6 Groups of 8-10 participants each
- Multiple perspectives represented in each group
- State, MPO, Federal, Private Sector
- Planners/Engineers/Business/Administrators
- Two Sessions Ensured Comprehensive Approach:
- AM:  Intense brainstorming in 11 areas of the Transportation Planning Process
*Strengths and weaknesses of existing process were identified*
*More than 200 Opportunities were identified and prioritized*
- PM:  Participants challenged to identify workable action steps for the top 12 opportunities
- Active discussions in each group

## Common Themes

- Need to think in terms of “freight” and “passenger” transportation versus modes
- Need to establish Freight-Specific Performance Measures
- Need to expand Public Involvement for Freight Issues
- Need to expand Freight Education/Awareness
- Need to improve Analytic Models/Tools and Data Access

## Summary of Strengths and Weaknessesin Existing Planning Process

## Goals and Objectives

- Strengths:
- Can help set national vision
- Some similarities in goals/objectives (ex. Safety, maintenance, etc.)
- Increasingly objectives must be tied to specific performance measures
- Broad freight perspective/National recognition/flexibility good
- Weaknesses:
- “Freight” perspective not sufficiently addressed in process
- Expectations for goals/objectives at national level are unclear (ie., relationship of MPO/state planning and goals to national role in freight planning)
- Emphasis on Passenger versus Freight in Goal Setting
- Mode thinking—not holistic, “systems-based”
- Too vague—Not specific enough generally to be meaningful
- Global nature of freight difficult to deal with at local level

## Organization

- Strengths:
- Significant freight champions among stakeholders
- Intermodal Advisory Task Force good
- Federal support for regional approach (MPOs)
- Weaknesses:
- Lack of centralized structure/ strategies in focusing freight planning
- Regional view may not cross state line
- New constituencies have trouble gaining entry to process
- Wide variation in MPO and State DOT technical abilities
- Organizations are ill prepared to deal with competing issues (Trucking/rail)
- Lack of coordination among MPOs and between Gov’t levels

## Public Involvement

- Strengths:
- Process is well-established
- Opportunities explicitly exist
- Weaknesses:
- Insufficient resources
- Lack of participation by trucking/rail
- Lack of understanding of role of freight leads to inability to ID proper players.
- Don’t educate public on freight benefits at present
- Imbalance in representation at meetings (vocal NIMBYs)
- Opportunities not sufficiently embraced by freight
- Typically messy

## Data

- Strengths:
- Data is available (commodity survey, REEBIE, etc.)
- Weaknesses:
- Collected but not effectively utilized
- Lack of awareness of what’s available
- Not timely
- Stratified by mode/Not linked to economic development data
- Lack of trust in data collection resulting in duplication of effort/redundancy
- Intermodal data not available

## Technical Tools

- Strengths:
- Good forecasting tools for engineering/population data
- Limits of existing tools are understood
- Cost/Benefit models do exist
- Weaknesses:
- Validity/Credibility issues:  Inconsistent levels of faith in tool outputs
-  Models are cumbersome
- Data is flawed (lack of statistics)
- Turnover in modeler skillsets high
- Tools tend to be mode specific:  Lack of integrated toolsets (intermodal models) for integrated planning
- Lack of freight forecasting tool
- Lack of flexible/quick analysis tools

## Identify Needs/Deficiencies

- Strengths:
- process is well-established
- Good congestion management tools
- Planning horizon for freight shorter than for passenger
- Weaknesses:
- Lack of resources to conduct freight needs analysis
- Process sometimes too technical for decision-makers
- Needs tend to focus on passenger versus freight
- Corridor-specific needs identification critical but requires resources
- Private sector not adequately consulted
- Lack of consensus In dealing with private freight infrastructure in public process
- Freight issues hard to quantify

## Develop/Evaluate Alternatives

- Strengths:
- Some MPOs are trying to think intermodally
- Weaknesses:
- Freight perspective not institutionalized—States/MPOs driven by mode specific funding
- Systems perspective lacking
- “Passenger” and “Freight” perspectives missing

## Develop Long Range Plans 

- Strengths:
- Long-term Horizon good—Takes at least 15 years to get major investments approved.
- Weaknesses:
- Too Long-Term
- Financial constraints are limitation to vision
- Don’t include private sector perspectives
- Incompatible timeframes between private/public sector
- Not enough “What-If” questions
- Prioritization not done enough
- Changing political landscape presents challenges

## Develop TIPs

- Strengths:
- Private sector will participate here
- Required to report on previous year
- Programs that help locals find money
- Flexibility in CMAQ funding
- Weaknesses:
- Some MPOs overprogram to detriment of program
- Insufficient application of objective performance-based criteria
- Spreading limited funds across too many programs

## Summary of Opportunities to Improve Planning Process

## Opportunities with External Influences

- Goals/Objectives:
- Expand goals discussion to private sector
- Educate freight (shippers and carriers)
- Organization:
- Involve other USDOT agencies more actively in freight planning (beyond FHWA/FTA)
- Increase focus in MPO and State DOTs for acknowledging and dealing with freight
- Consider wide scope (ie corridors “trade routes”)
- Improve regional coordination among State DOTs and MPOs
- Public Involvement:
- Planners/Officials should attend trade association meetings

## Opportunities with External Influences (Cont.)

- Data:
- Create Freight Data Architecture
- Establish consistent set of freight data available to all levels (local, state, Fed)
- Develop best practices for using, analyzing and presenting what is relevant to decision makers
- USDOT should coordinate strategy for data/decision needs and obtaining data
- Assure intermodal/freight perspective
- Technical Tools:
- Tools should cross state borders
- Need experts to develop improved models for freight
- Develop state of the art commodity flow models
- Awareness of focus on trade versus mode—”Need vs. Means”
- Link Models/Develop integrated tools
- Financial Plan:
- Develop plans/projects that co-mingle funds

## Planning-Based Process Opportunities

- Identify/Analyze Issues/Deficiencies (Current/Future):
- Identify cross-modal issues
- Identify benefits of public sector investment in private facilities
- Implement regional approach/multi-jurisdictional approach to analysis
- Integration of trucks, intermodal transportation to play a major role
- Learn to manage private/public sector time criticalities
- Develop/Evaluate Alternatives:
- Prioritize Freight—Fund movement of people and commodities rather than modes
- Develop tool to get freight perspective into alternative mix
- Improve evaluation tools for all modes

## Planning-Based Process Opportunities (Cont.)

- Prepare/Adopt Long Range Plan:
- Create vision with no time limits
- Implement more holistic approach to goals/objectives in pla
- Adopt a systems-based approach
- Prepare/Adopt TIP:
- Develop separate programming process
- Involve private sector more—Show benefits of public investments to private interests
- Ask private sector what could bring them to the table—Develop Public/Private Comprehensive plan
- Benchmark MPOs that consider freight in the TIP

## Next Steps

- Develop summary of with recommendations from this workshop that you’ve provided.
- Actions that require legislative action will be forwarded to Washington through USDOT.
- Future workshops will continue this discussion to further develop more complex ideas.

## THANK YOU!!!