Obama Administration moving freight more safely, smoothly, and sustainably

This morning I addressed the Freight Transportation Policy Forum of the National Industrial Transportation League. I was grateful to have this opportunity to talk about moving America's goods from farm and factory to store shelves.

It may seem that DOT spends a lot of energy on moving passengers. Between blogs on high-speed rail, speeches on distracted driving, rules on aviation consumer protections, grants to transit agencies, and rallies for bike and pedestrian policy, it's pretty clear that I'm excited about improving how Americans get from point A to point B.

But I want to remind you that every step we take to improve mobility for people also improves mobility for the supplies and goods we want and need:

• Making it easier for people to take public transportation, or ride bikes also reduces costly congestion on the highways our truck drivers use;
• Reducing driver distraction makes those highways safer for freight; and
• Improving miles of track in advance of a high-speed rail network also smooths the way for more efficient rail shipping.

And that's without even mentioning the steps the Obama Administration is taking specifically to move freight more safely, effectively and sustainably. For example, of $1.5 billion in TIGER discretionary funds, more than half--$765 million--went to projects that benefit freight:

• Developing a marine highway system in northern and central California to ease truck congestion and reduce greenhouse gas emissions;
• Upgrading port facilities in Portland, Searsport, and Eastport, Maine, enabling US businesses to move wind turbines and other green freight while creating jobs and improving the local economy;
• Improving Chicago’s regional rail infrastructure through an innovative public-private partnership to break through the bottleneck that adversely impacts a quarter of all US rail traffic.

These projects represent a significant change from old freight funding patterns that have focused on highways.

Now, we have TIGER II, our $600 million national infrastructure investment program. These funds will help us green-light even more high-priority road, rail, transit, aviation, and maritime projects. Projects that will create good jobs while helping upgrade our freight transportation networks.

And, in the budget we submitted to Congress, this Administration proposed a National Infrastructure Innovation and Finance Fund. This fund--for which freight projects will be strong competitors--will support multimodal efforts that involve multiple jurisdictions and promise substantial economic benefits.

The point is this: In 506 days, the Obama Administration has worked tirelessly to make shipping America's goods safer, faster, and cleaner than ever; and we have no intention of stopping now.

These investments do not favor one mode of transportation over another. They strike a new balance that maximizes the efficiency of freight transportation through whatever means are best for a given region, whether that means trucking, railroads, ships, or barges.

We’re focused on good outcomes for freight shipping--like reducing congestion, improving safety, and mitigating climate change--and investing in the projects that achieve those outcomes.

This strategy is good for shippers and good for the American people.

Comments

[Michael E. Bailey]

A well working integrated transportation system is what works best for the country. Improving the railroad system and creating the marine super highway will have huge and positive environmental and economic impacts. Here in Orange County a Grand Jury report has just come out on our county transportation provider--OCTA. The report says that Orange County is nearing the built-out phase as far as new freeways or expanding the length and size of existing ones goes. This means more and better alternatives to new highways are necessary. Orange County has reached the point now where more freeways means eliminating more businesses and demolishing more homes with very adverse consequencies to the county sales and property tax systems. The Grand Jury was looking at improving the bus system but what its report said also applies to finding new and better ways to move freight. And at the same time, we should redouble our efforts to develop and make commercial the new fuel technologies that will be important to the 21st Century transportation system. The California Air Resources Board is looking at major railroad yards in 4 Southern California communities as sources of diesel particulates helping to create or to inflame existing health problems in people living in lower income neighborhoods near the yards. The freight yard diesel particulate program will look at locomotive engines, drayage truck engines, engines of maintenance equipment, engines of rubber tired gantry cranes and stackers, and stationary engines in the yards. But cleaner running locomotives and drayage trucks will havepositive impacts for every neighborhood the truck or train goes through, not just those closest to the 4 train yards. Best wishes, Michael E. Bailey.