pacific nw transportation consortium region 10 Pactrans

Data Needs Analysis for Resilient Multimodal Rural Freight Corridors

PI: Ahmed Ibrahim (UI), aibrahim@uidaho.edu, ORCID:

Co PIs: none

AMOUNT & MATCH: $100,000 federal from PacTrans; $100,000 federal Match

PERFORMANCE PERIOD: 8/16/2023 – 8/15/2025

STATUS: Active

CATEGORIES: Freight Networks, Mobility

UTC PROJECT DOCUMENTATION:

FINAL PROJECT REPORT: will be available once completed

PROJECT DATA: will be available once completed

DESCRIPTION: The freight system is a critical component of the supply chain. An essential part of our freight systems is the multi-modal rural freight that consists of an interconnected network of local roads, freeways, railways, inland waterways, and ports. Economies of rural areas heavily rely on agriculture, fishing, and manufacturing, which depends on its multi-modal rural freight. It is crucial for the region’s economic growth and global competitiveness that the rural freight system is safe and resilient. Such resilience and robustness require the availability of real-time, accurate, and localized data on the characteristics of the ac􀆟vi􀆟es of different rural industries (land use and goods location, movement, and analysis) as well as the conditions of different elements of the freight network.

This proposed project aims to conduct i) a review of state-of-the-art strategies to improve the resiliency and efficiency of the freight network and a synthesis of those strategies that could be applied and implemented in rural areas, ii) interviews with different freight stakeholders to identify the data they need and availability/gaps of this data, and iii) three case studies for farming, manufacturing, and fishing to examine the availability of different datasets and the strategies to fill data gaps to assess the safety and resilience of rural freight networks. The outcome and findings of this study will be presented to different stakeholders through a set of webinars and other workforce development materials. The research results can help transportation agencies promptly detect, respond to, accommodate, and recover from disruptions, which also help agencies prioritize investment and resource allocations to maximize the resilience of the multi-modal rural freight network. All these will contribute to building a resilient supply chain for the region and the nation.