Freight Transportation in the Upper Midwest: A Regional Perspective

1
Freight Transportation in the Upper Midwest A
Regional Perspective

• Talking Freight Web Seminar
• Travis Gordon
• Midwest Regional University Transportation Center
• University of Wisconsin-Madison

2
Upper Midwest/Great Lakes region
3
Agenda

• The regional nature of freight
• Benefits of multi-jurisdictional cooperation
• Upper Midwest Freight Corridor Study
• Overview
• Preliminary results
• Next steps

4
Regional nature of freight

• Freight doesnt respect boundaries
• Actions of one agency will have an effect on
  neighboring jurisdictions
• Intra-regional freight movements

5
Intra-regional transport
Source Regional Economics Application Lab,
University of Illinois
6
Benefits

• Efficient use of resources
• Larger pool of resources and staffing
• Sharing of plans and information
• Addresses freight specific problems
• Burden sharing
• Cannot solve all the problems alone

7
Upper Midwest Freight Corridor Study
8
Study overview

• Collaborative effort by six states and three
  university transportation centers
• Five key areas of work
• August 2003 (contract signed)
• February 2005 (final report printed)
• Provides stakeholders with information on the
  freight transportation system in our region
• Unique elements

9
Distribution of freight activities (1997)
Source 1997 CFS
10
Freight traffic in the region
11
Existing Highway Conditions
Level of Service A-B C-D E-F
12
Existing River Conditions
13
Study results (continued)

• Administrative Issues
• There may be benefits of standardizing size and
  weight regulations across the region
  (non-designated roads), but the cost is too great
• Opportunities for regional cooperation in ITS
  applications for commercial vehicles

14
Study results (continued)

• Performance Measures
• Safety Economic efficiency Economic
  development Environment Reliability Congestion
• Synthesis of Practices
• There are benefits of multi-state cooperation it
  makes sense
• Learning from the experiences of the I-95
  Corridor Coalition and others

15
Next Steps

• Communication
• Coalition
• Coordination
• Define longer term when reauthorization is clear

16
Contacts

• Website www.uppermidwestfreight.org
• Ernie Wittwer, wittwer_at_engr.wisc.edu,
  608-263-3175
• Travis Gordon, gordont_at_cae.wisc.edu, 608-262-6639

Thank you!