Ways to Address Freight-System Mobility Constraints
/Extracted 11MAY2011 from http://www.trb.org/Publications/Public/PubsNCFRPProjectReports.aspx
Under NCFRP Project 4, Battelle was asked to (1) develop a standardized description of the dimensions of the freight system by mode; (2) analyze explicitly the business practices and institutional factors that influence freight-system decision makers and stakeholders as they respond to freight-system mobility constraints and regulatory and other public policy initiatives; (3) develop a methodology that both the public and private sectors can use to identify, categorize, and evaluate quickly implementable, low-cost capital, operational, and public policy actions that can enhance freight mobility by addressing system constraints; and (4) apply that methodology in a generic way to create a catalog of actions that may be most useful in addressing the nation’s freight-system mobility constraints.
To accomplish the project objectives, the research team (1) developed definitions of freight mobility constraint; (2) developed criteria for low-cost and quickly implementable improvement by mode; (3) characterized the improvements by physical improvements, operational improvements, and regulatory improvements; and (4) developed a computerbased application analysis tool for users to identify constraints based on selectable criteria and then to review possible improvements