Guidebook for Integrating Freight into Transportation Planning and Project Selection Processes

摘要

Over the last decade, the incorporation of freight issues into the transportation planning activities of state departments of transportation (DOTs) and metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) has received significant focus from federal transportation agencies and entities, business and industry leaders, and other key stakeholders. This enhanced focus on integrating freight issues within existing statewide and metropolitan transportation planning processes has been driven by several factors, including Federal surface transportation legislation, beginning with the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) of 1991, which first emphasized freight as a factor to consider in the transportation planning process. The importance of incorporating freight issues within metropolitan and statewide planning efforts was further emphasized in the Transportation Equity Act of the 21st Century (TEA-21) and again most recently with the passage of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy forUsers (SAFETEA-LU). Recognition by business and community leaders that efficient freight transportation is a key factor in statewide and metropolitan economic competitiveness and vitality and an important consideration in business attraction and retention decisions. Continued globalization and an increasing reliance on international trade, which has heightened the importance of a safe, reliable, and secure transportation system and placed increased pressure on already strained infrastructure.