Freight Transportation Policy
Unit 5: Policy and Impacts on
Performance
First, what is Policy?
Policy at Different Levels
• Individual Policies
• I don’t eat meat.
• I don’t walk home by myself after dark.
• Family Policies
• We eat dinner together every Sunday.
• Curfew is midnight.
• Organization Policies
• HR policies (vacation time, salary, dress code)
• Operating policies (safety, inventory, communication)
• Government Policies
• “Public policies” developed at all levels of government
Public Policy
“Public policy is the broad framework of
ideas and values within which decisions are
taken and action, or inaction, is pursued by
governments in relation to some issue or
problem.”
- Stephen Brooks
Public Policy in Canada:
An Introduction
Why do issues become subjects of
public policy?
• Meets one or more criteria
– Scope: a significant number of people or
communities are affected
– Intensity: magnitude of impact is high
– Time: has been an issue over a long period
Policy Development Considerations
• Public Interest
What is in the best interest of society as a whole?
• Effectiveness
How well does a policy achieves its stated goals?
• Efficiency
How well are resources utilized in achieving goals and
implementing policy?
Policy Development Considerations
• Consistency
How well does policy align with broader goals and strategies
of government?
• Fairness and equity
How well policy increases equity of all members and sectors
of society (link to public interest)?
• Reflective
Does it consider other values and/or society and the
community?
Quick History Lesson:
Federal Transportation Legislation
• 1789 to the early 1800’s – federal role in
transportation was minimal
• First large transportation network in the US?
• 4000 miles of canals (built btwn 1810 & 1860)
• Subsidized by local and state governments, no
federal funds
• First federal expenditure on transportation?
• Zane’s Trace – a postal road from Wheeling, WV to
Limestone, KY
• 1850 to 1900 – Age of the Railroads
– 1838 – National government designated railroads
as postal routes; miles of track grew from 3000 (in
1838) to 9000 by 1850
– National government subsidized RRs as a means of
improving interstate commerce
– Little incentive to improve/build roads outside of
US cities
– Canal system became almost non-existent
• 1900 to 1956 – Cars come on the scene
• What happened in 1902?
• American Automobile Association (AAA)
• Model T
• Federal Road Act of 1916
• Lead to communication, standardization, uniformity
• WWI – halted construction, but stressed the
importance of a roadway network
• Federal Highway Act of 1921
• “an adequate and connected system of roadways”
• By 1930, over 23 million cars were on the road
• 1900 to 1956 – Cars come on the scene
• 1932 – First gas tax: 1 cent/gallon
• Motor Carrier Act of 1935 – empowered the Interstate
Commerce Commission to regulate trucking routes
• States and local governments were still outspending
the national government on highway projects
• Every state imposed a state gas tax by 1929
• Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1944
• $20 billion for 40,000 mile interstate highway system
• But WWII happened first
National Interstate and Defense
Highways Act
• Formally, Federal Highway Act of 1956
• 41,000-mile national system of interstate and
defense highways
• Funded the “greatest public works program in
history”
• Centralized highway-policy making authority
by elevating the role of federal and state
government officials in determining the scope
and nature of the country’s highway system
• Completed by 1991 for $129 billion
Between 1956 and 1991
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Mass Transit
Highways and Suburban Sprawl
Highways and Minority Neighborhoods
Trucking Deregulation
Environment & Citizen Involvement
ISTEA (1991)
• Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act
• Major changes to previous policy
• Interstate system complete, no shared goal
• Congestion, pollution and sprawl increasing, infrastructure
in poor condition
• Increases in trade and need for intermodal collaboration
• 6 years, $151 billion
• Money allocated in ways which helped level the playing
field between modes
• States could split money between highway and mass
transit – although this didn’t happen
• Planning required - MPOs
TEA-21 (1996)
• Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century
• $167.1 billion for highways and $36.3 billion for
mass transit over 6 years
• Structure similar to that of ISTEA
• Nearly $1 trillion spend on highways and bridges
during the 90s
• $160 billion on mass transit
• Despite being given more freedom, only 9 states
(including WA) made significant changes in their
funding decisions
SAFETEA-LU (2005)
• Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient
Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users
• $244.1 billion
• Targeted investment
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Safety
Equity
Innovative Finance
Congestion Relief
Mobility & Productivity
Efficiency
Environment Stewardship
Environmental Streamlining
MAP-21
• Still not authorized
• Waiting since 2009
• http://blogs.asce.org/govrel/
• Needed: everything.
“[T]he Act which I sign today is the most important
transportation legislation of our lifetime ... It is one of the
essential building blocks in our preparation for the future
... Transportation has truly emerged as a significant part
of our national life. As a basic force in our society, its
progress must be accelerated so that the quality of our
life can be improved.”
- President Lyndon Baines
Johnson, signing the DOT Act,
October 15, 1966.
(photo courtesy of the LBJ Library via www.dotlibrary.dot.gov/Historian/historian)
Department of Transportation Act
• Established the US Department of
Transportation (1966)
• Mission
“Serve the United States by ensuring a fast, safe,
efficient, accessible and convenient transportation
system that meets our vital national interests and
enhances the quality of life of the American
people, today and into the future.”
(http://www.dot.gov/about_dot.html)
US DOT (www.dot.gov)
• Office of the Secretary
• 10 individual Operating Administrations
(most of which have ties to freight transportation)
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Federal Aviation Administration
Federal Highway Administration
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
Federal Railroad Administration
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Federal Transit Administration
Maritime Administration
Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation
Research and Innovative Technologies Administration
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
But It’s Not Just the DOT’s Jurisdiction
• Department of Agriculture
• Agricultural Marketing Service (Transportation &
Marketing Division)
• Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards
Administration
• Department of Commerce
• International Trade Administration (Office of Travel
and Tourism Industries)
• US Census Bureau
• Department of Defense
• US Transportation Command (TRANSCOM)
• Department of Energy
• Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Office
But It’s Not Just the DOT’s Jurisdiction
• Department of Homeland Security
• Transportation Security Administration
• Coast Guard
• Department of Justice
• Antitrust Division
• Department of Labor
• Occupational Safety and Health Administration
• Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Department of State
• Bureau of Economics and Business Affairs
• Transportation and Travel Management Division
Federal Gas Tax
• 18.4 cents per
gallon
• Revenue funds
the Highway Trust
Fund
• Hasn’t been
raised since 1993
• Concerns
• Does not keep pace with inflation
• Distribution among states (donor vs. donee states)
• Earmarking
State Gas Tax
• Every state was on in addition to the federal
gas tax
• Highest: California (45.5 cents)
• Lowest: Alaska (8 cents)
• Washington: 37.5 cents
History of the Federal Gas Tax
Date
Tax Rate
(cpg)
General
Revenues
Highway
Account
Mass Transit
Account
Other Trust
Funds
1932
1.0
1.0
1933
1.5
1.5
1934
1.0
1.0
1940
1.5
1.5
1951
2.0
2.0
1956
3.0
3.0
1959
4.0
4.0
1983
9.0
8.0
1.0
1987
9.1
8.0
1.0
1990 (Sept)
9.0
8.0
1.0
1990 (Dec)
14.1
2.5
10.0
1.5
0.1
1993
18.4
6.8
10.0
1.5
0.1
1995
18.4
4.3
12.0
2.0
0.1
1996
18.3
4.3
12.0
2.0
1997
18.4
15.44
2.86
0.1
0.1
Highway Account Will Remain Solvent
Until Next Year (2012), CBO Forecasts
• The trust fund's Highway Account will run out of money
in Fiscal Year 2013, however, if Congress does not
authorize additional revenue, CBO forecasts. Transit
programs -- paid for by the trust fund's Transit Account -can be fully funded into FY 2014, the report states.
• "The two accounts will be unable to meet obligations in
a timely manner sometime during 2013 (for the Highway
Account) and 2014 (for the Transit Account)," according
to the report. "From 2008 to 2010, the Highway Trust
Fund received transfers from the General Fund of the
Treasury totaling almost $35 billion to keep the trust
fund from being exhausted."
Reliance of Federal Spending
Mode
Generation of Revenue
How Money is
Spent
Air
•Aviation Taxes
•FAA Appropriation ($15 billion)
•Tickets/revenue
•Air traffic control,
airport improvements,
general aviation airports
Rail
•Appropriation – National
Railroad Passenger Corporation
•FRA Appropriation ($1 billion)
•Fares/tickets
•Gas tax
•Freight revenue
•Amtrak ($500 million)
Road
•Gas tax ($30 billion federal)
•DOT Appropriation
•Roadways, transit
Water ($1 billion)
•Harbor maintenance tax
•Inland Waterways trust fund tax
•MARAD Appropriation ($.4
billion)
•St. Lawrence Seaway
Appropriation
•Army Corps of
Engineers O&M
•Construction, feasibility,
O&M
•Passenger rail
improvements
•Transit projects
Passenger
Freight
Air
Ticket/fare
Freight rate
Rail
Gas tax
Ticket/fare
Sales tax
Gas tax
Freight rate
Road
Water
Gas tax
Ticket/fare
Gas tax
Freight rate
Gas tax (ferry)
Freight rate
*all DOT agencies receive appropriations in part funded by income tax
Truck volume
• Policies are generally focused on peak travel
periods
– Congestion
– Air pollution
• Truck volumes during the peak are small
• Drivers tend to avoid congestion
Concerns
• Historically we have spent much more on
highways than on other modes
• How should the private sector pay for public
infrastructure
• Truly intermodal investments don’t happen
due to siloed organizational structure at
USDOT
• Freight is a small percentage of overall traffic
(typically less than 10%)
Freight tends to struggle for funding
• Canada’s Gateway and Corridors Program
– http://www.pacificgateway.gc.ca/index2.html
• Coalition for America’s Gateways and Trade
Corridors
– http://www.tradecorridors.org/
• Freight Act
– Lack of funding mechanism
State Level Policies
• 3 distinct priority movements
– Export
– Import
– Urban circulation
• Supporting state-level trade
• Disaster /resilience planning
– Prioritization system
– Communication system
Municipal Scale Policies
• Focus on air quality, safety, livability
– anti-idling
– Time-based restrictions
– Truck size limits
• Tend to add cost as opposed to improve
velocity