To ensure the efficiency and reliability of freight movement, California has invested a great deal in building and maintaining its freight infrastructure, but these investments are far outpaced by the rapid growth in both passenger and freight demand. The result is increased congestion, especially at bottlenecks where delays are severe.

This research was motivated by new provisions in the 2016 Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, which require states to consider the impact of significant freight congestion or delays on the broader transportation system. However, conventional methods of evaluating freight congestion, such as identifying freight bottlenecks, focus on how these bottlenecks affect freight transport. This research provides a statewide assessment of freight movement on all traffic congestion. It defines freight impact areas as severely congested roadway corridors with high volumes of trucks.

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With annual gross domestic product (GDP) of more than 2.4 trillion dollars, the State of California plays a major role in the nation’s economic growth and international trade. It is the largest state economy in the US and accounts for about 14% of US GDP. Tons of goods are moved into California every day through its busy seaports, airports and borders. Some of these goods are consumed locally, while others are processed and transshipped to other states and countries. To ensure the efficiency and reliability of freight movement, California has invested a great deal in building and maintaining its freight infrastructure, but these investments are far outpaced by the rapid growth in both passenger and freight demand. The result is increasing congestion, especially at bottlenecks where congestion and delays are severe. This research was motivated by new provisions in the 2016 Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, which require states to consider the impact of significant congestion or delays caused by the freight industry. Specifically, the FAST Act requires, “Consideration of any significant congestion or delay caused by freight movements and any strategies to mitigate that congestion or delay” (Federal Register, 81(199), 10/14/16, 71185). The purpose of this research is to generate recommendations on the most effective strategies for reducing freight related congestion and its impacts. These recommendations will be considered for inclusion in the California Freight Mobility Plan (CFMP) 2019 version to comply with FAST Act requirements.

View the NCST Project Webpage