Title: Planning for Urban Freight Movement
1Planning for Urban Freight Movement
- By
- Arun Chatterjee
- The University of Tennessee, Knoxville
2Scope of My Presentation
- Traditional planning engineering oriented
- Vehicle-based analysis
- Internal through movements of trucks
- Tools for planning and forecasting
- Examples of common issues and opportunities
- Practical difficulties
3Internal Movement- Modes Vehicles
- Nearly 100 trucks
- Majority SU and trucks and vans of different
types - Some large combination trucks
4Services of Different Hierarchy
- PUD between major centers, e.g., an airport and a
hub center of UPS/FedEx large combination
trucks - PUD of containers from one rail terminal to
another, e.g., in Chicago large trucks - PUD between warehouses and offices/stores medium
size trucks and vans - PUD between a break-bulk terminal and
offices/homes small trucks and vans
5Service Vehicles
- Service vehicles of plumbers, electricians, etc.
(Should these be treated as freight vehicles?)
6Types of Commodities
- Construction materials
- Food products
- Consumer goods TV, furniture, etc.
- Petroleum
- Small packages
- Mail, etc.
7Long-Range Planning Process of MPOs
- 20-year planning horizon
- Relies on forecasting models
- Two major components
- Land use forecasting
- Travel forecasting
- How is freight transportation treated?
8Land Use Planning and Forecasting
- Does it address truck terminals and their
locations- now and in the future? - Does it address warehousing and their locations -
now and in the future? - How are the other freight generators such as
seaports, airports, and rail-truck intermodal
yards treated? (Expansion relocation needs) - Is access to freight facilities examined?
9Travel Forecasting Models
- Travel forecasting models constitute a major
component of the planning process - Four-step modeling procedures primary focus has
been on passenger trips by automobile transit - Research on travel surveys and mathematical
models commonly focus on person/passenger trip
making and mode choice
10Truck Travel Forecasting Models
- Only a few MPOs are developing these models
- Lack of good data on truck travel
- Need for truck trip surveys and truck counts
(by types)
11Truck Trip Modeling Questions to Be Addressed
- How to classify truck trips-- size, type of
service? - Trip generation models for productions and
attractions variables to use employment, or
commodity oriented? - Trip distribution- trip based or tour based
models? (Pick-up delivery trucks use trip
chaining/tours.)
12Truck Trip Modeling- Questions(Cont.)
- Traffic assignment - need a separate network for
large trucks? - If auto trips and truck trips are assigned
separately, how to account for their combined
impact on capacity and speed? - Should have the ability to identify truck trips
even after combining with auto trips for
assignment for truck route planning.
13Special Techniques for Developing a Truck Trip
O-D Matrix
- An O-D survey for truck travel is expensive and
complex - Mathematical techniques for creating truck trip
matrix that can replicate truck counts - Need truck counts at strategically selected
locations - Need information on truck trip generators and
truck prohibitions - Baltimore area MPO recently utilized this
approach
14Problems Opportunities
- Long-range short-range
- How to identify these?
- Role of freight advisory committees for
identifying current problems and opportunities
15Opportunities Deserving Immediate Attention
- Planning oriented
- Traffic engineering oriented
16Planning Oriented Opportunities
- Providing off-street loading docks/space for
buildings zoning ordinance should specify
requirements
17Planning Opportunities (Contd.)
- Developing freight terminal complexes
transportation parks (or freight villages) land
use plans should provide for these.
18Traffic Engineering Oriented Opportunities
- Curbside loading zones
- Improvements along routes commonly used by large
trucks - Intersection improvements at locations with heavy
truck use
19Cut-Outs for Loading Zones
- Cut-outs/turn-outs of wide sidewalks for loading
zones
20Curbside Loading Zones
- Location
- Length and marking
- Hours of operation
- Time limit for turnover
- Different zones for different types of vehicles
- Enforcement
21Curb Space Management
- Competing users of curbside
- Buses
- Taxi cabs
- Service vehicles
- Trucks of different types
- Who gets priority?
22Through Movement Common Problems
- High volume of heavy trucks on arterial highways
noise, traffic congestion, safety concern, etc. - Lane use restrictions for trucks
- Rail-highway grade crossings safety
23Difficulties to Overcome
- General public has a negative attitude toward
freight service providers - Elected officials may not give high priority to
freight vehicles (freight does not vote) and
freight planning - Need cooperation of private freight companies,
but they want fast action and are skeptical about
public agencies
24Concluding Remarks
- Use a practical approach
- Address major concerns and issues of both public
and private sectors - Need to implement a few strategies quickly to
gain confidence of private sector - Need to publicize the case/need for freight
transportation using news media, chamber of
commerce, trade associations, etc.
25References
- Urban Goods Movement, Ogden, K. W., Ashgate
Publishing Company, 1992 - Characteristics of Urban Freight Systems,
Wegmann, Chatterjee, Lipinski, Jennings and
McGinnis, A Report Prepared for FHWA,
DOT-T-96-22, 1995 - Urban Transportation Planning for Goods and
Services, Dennis Christiansen, TTI, A Report
Prepared for FHWA, 1979
26References (Contd.)
- Truck Trip Generation Data, Fischer, M.J. and
Han, M., NCHRP Synthesis 298, TRB, 2001 - Chatterjee, Staley, and Whaley, Transportation
Parks -- A Promising Approach to Facilitate Urban
Goods Movement, Traffic Quarterly, April 1986 - Chatterjee, A., et al, Goods Movement Planning
for Small and Medium Size Urban Areas,
Transportation Engineering, ITE, November 1977
27Thanks
- Robert Gorman, FHWA
- My consultants for this presentation Ted
Dahlburg, Gerald Rawling, Jocelyn Jones, and
Michael Fischer.