Importance of freight is recognized

Pasadena Star News
By: Cynthia Kurtz
Posted 3/20/2013

Trains, planes and automobiles - we need all kinds of transportation to meet the challenges of moving goods and services. This is especially true in Southern California where 40 percent of the containerized goods that enter the U.S. destined for places throughout the country comes through the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. 

Last week while visiting officials in Washington D.C., I had an opportunity to learn more about what the federal government is thinking regarding goods movement. There are issues that transpose party lines. While the political parties don’t agree on much and the likelihood of a federal budget remains slim, everyone I spoke to agreed that there is a critical need for investments in infrastructure. Among the most pressing is the need for improvements in transportation systems particularly those used extensively for moving products from where they are produced or imported to the customers and users.

The first step in the federal legislative process is setting policy. When the topic is transportation that means including the item in the national transportation act. The latest transportation act, “Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century" or "MAP-21” for short, passed in October 2012. It represents a significant change in thinking about goods movement. 

Map-21 is the first national transportation act to recognize the importance of freight. It establishes a National Freight Policy, calls for investments in transportation and operational improvements, and requires the federal Department of Transportation to define "primary" and "rural" networks of roads that are essential in freight movements.

Map-21 also encourages States to develop their own freight strategic plans and advisory committees. The committees are to be broad reaching and include representatives from ports, shipping, carriers, freight associations, state transportation departments and state and local government. 

While there are great advances in planning for freight, in its current form the freight policy and essential networks are defined exclusively around the highway system. Those of us here in the SGV know freight rail, which carries 42 percent of the nations ton-miles, is also a critical part of the goods movement system. If all of the freight that crosses the SGV were in trucks, our congestion would be unmanageable. The Alameda Corridor East along with its safety improvements and 22 grade separations needs to be regarded with the same high priority as our interstate system.

That's why this month's introduction of the "Multimodal Opportunities Via Enhanced (MOVE) Freight Act of 2013" is such encouraging news. The Freight Act focuses on creating a national freight plan for moving goods by road, rail, water and air. Introduced by Congressmember Sires from New Jersey, it has five co-sponsors including the San Gabriel Valley's Congressmember Grace Napolitano and Southern California Congressmember Janice Hahn.

Freight volumes are expected to more than double by 2040. This makes an inclusive policy that expands the definition of national freight network and makes financial investments in a multimodal integrated system key to developing the most effective and efficient system for goods movement. Now everyone in the SGV should get behind this important piece of legislation and help lift it over the finish line.