Transportation Responses to Increased Latin American Trade;Final Research rept. 15 Feb-30 Sep 04

摘要

The objective of this work is to provide: (1) A plan for collaborative intermodal transportation investment decision analysis tools for both traditional and nontraditional intermodal system improvements that will accommodate expected increases in Latin America trade shipments through northern Gulf of Mexico ports$ (2) A framework for choosing a good mix of intermodal alternatives so that public and private sector officials are able to collaboratively plan system upgrades at the state, sub-region, and regional level that serve the public interest. This report summarizes several related projects and shows how the component pieces of research fit together to accomplish the desired overall goal of an optimizing virtual intermodal transportation system. As such, it represents a foundation for the further work that will be required to make the envisioned system a reality. The Latin America Trade and Transportation Study (LATTS) results showed that increased trade with Latin America would test the United States transportation network's ability to safely and economically transport freight.