Assessing the Capacity of the Pacific Northwest as an Intermodal Freight Transportation Hub
PI: Hectro Vergara (OSU), hector.vergara@oregonstate.edu
Dates: 07/01/2013 – 8/31/2015
Final Project Report: PacTrans-36-OSU-Vergara
The economic health of the Pacific Northwest greatly depends on domestic and international trade markets and the efficient performance of freight transportation systems and their interconnections across the region. Very important industries in the region such as manufacturing, agriculture, retail and construction are heavily dependent on freight transportation. In the state of Oregon only, $16 million worth of cargo was moved on roads each hour of every day during 2008. Intermodal transportation refers to the use of two or more transportation modes to move goods from origin to destination to take advantage of economies of scale (for example, containers that are moved from a ship to a truck or to a train). Besides the economic benefits of intermodal transportation, overall sustainability is also improved as linkages between different transportation modes allow better utilization of transportation assets and a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions as goods are transported more efficiently. The Pacific Northwest has a geographical advantage as compared to other regions on the West Coast of the United States and Canada as it can easily connect Eastern markets in Asia with consumers in the Midwest region of the United States. However, although some previous studies have analyzed the potential of the intermodal infrastructure and operations in some of the states in the region, it remains unclear how the Pacific Northwest as a whole is currently positioned to serve as a major hub for intermodal freight transportation and what are the major areas for improvement in order to increase the overall economic and environmental sustainability of freight transportation. This will benefit policy makers and major stakeholders throughout the region as they plan future projects needed to expand the infrastructure and technological and operational capacity of the Pacific Northwest as a major intermodal freight transportation hub within the United States.
