US freight to double, huge infrastructure investment urged

FUNDING for road, rail, ports, waterways and airports has fallen below what is required to maintain freight movement in the United States, according the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO).

The group predicted that US freight demand will double, from today's 15 billion tons to 30 billion tons in 2050 with truck volume increasing 41 per cent and rail by 38 per cent, reported London's International Freighting Weekly.

The AASHTO report, Unlocking Freight, also noted that traffic on the Interstate Highways between 1980 and 2006 increased by 150 per cent while capacity only went up 15 per cent.

The report called for 32,000 new lane-miles of Interstate Highways, and upgrading of another 14,000 miles, plus adding 14,000 new lane-miles to North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) corridors, and 8,000 lane-miles of truck-only toll facilities and another 400 lane-miles of access roads to port and intermodal terminals.

"Our overpowering need is for infrastructure investment in all modes, for no single mode can stand alone," said AASHTO president Larry Brown, also director of Mississippi's Department of Transportation. "To compete globally, we must invest in transport capacity. Because, in the freight environment we live in today, we've got to be able to move goods quickly and efficiently from point A to point B, no matter where points A and B are located in our country."
(Source:www.schednet.com)