Getting America’s Freight Back on the Move

7/31/2019 Getting Americas Freight Back on the Move

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Getting Americas FreightBack on the MoveA Plan or Investing in Our Freight Inrastructure

Keith Miller, Kristina Costa, and Donna Cooper August 2012

WWW.AMERICANPROGRESS.O


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1 Introduction and Summary

4 Freight rail

9 Inland waterways

13 Ports

18 Closing the freight infrastructure gap

24 Conclusion

26 About the authors

29 Endnotes

Contents


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1 Center or American Progress | Getting Americas Freight Back on the Move

Introduction and summary

Pors, reigh railways, and inland waerways ogeher comprise he backbone o

he American economy. Employing over 4.1 million Americans, he U.S. reigh

ranspor and warehousing indusries are relied upon every day o ranspor mil-

lions o ons o raw maerials and nished merchandise o desinaions across he

naion and around he globe. 1

Bu despie is indispensabiliy or susaining economic growh and ensuring

inernaional compeiiveness, Americas goods movemen sysem has beenallowed o all ino a dangerous sae o disrepair. Decades o chronic underinves-

men have le he sysem incapable o keeping up wih rouine mainenance, le

alone sucienly increasing capaciy o accommodae orecased growh.

Te Obama adminisraion undersands he graviy o he siuaion. Te presiden

recenly announced ha seven improvemen projecs a ve major pors would be

expedied, wih an addiional 36 projecs o be expedied by execuive order in he

near uure as par o he adminisraions We Can Wai iniiaive. Te admin-

israion also announced he creaion o a ask Force on Pors o aciliae beter

cross-agency coordinaion and help assess he relaive imporance o projecs

rom a naional perspecive.

Tese developmens represen signican seps in he righ direcion. Bu more

mus be done. Freigh botlenecks and oher congesion cos businesses, consum-

ers, and he public a large approximaely $200 billion per year, according o a

repor by he Building Americas Fuure Educaional Fund.2 Te U.S. Chamber o

Commerce places he annual cos o congesion as high as $1 rillion annually

roughly 7 percen o U.S. economic oupu.3 Tese coss resul rom higher rans-

poraion coss, more expensive everyday goods, and increased levels o polluion.

Whas more, delays and backlogs in goods ranspor sysems ha are designed o

move large volumes o commodiiessuch as reigh rail and waerwaysalso

lead o ever-increasing shares o reigh being moved by ruck across he naions


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highway sysem. Te more reigh is divered o rucks, he more congesed

Americas roadways become. In 2010 roadway congesion alone cos American

highway commuers an esimaed $101 billion in los produciviy and wased

gasa sum ha doesn include he cos o increased wear and ear on roadways

or he socieal cos incurred by higher emissions levels.4

Wih oal U.S. reigh rac anicipaed o increase by over 50 percen by 2040,

signican expansion, modernizaion, and sysem inegraion will be required.5

Invesing in our reigh inrasrucure sysem would no only help American

businesses remain compeiive bu would also immediaely produce hundreds o

housands o new jobs in he consrucion and manuacuring indusries, which

are among hose hardes hi by he recession. By invesing in our pors, railroads,

and waerways and implemening a number o commonsense legislaive reorms,

he Unied Saes can boh help ge our economy ge back on rack in he shor

erm and ensure coninued prosperiy or decades o come.

Tis will require signican public-privae cooperaion. Te naions reigh rail

sysem is mosly privaely owned and operaed, hough he ederal governmen

invesed abou $560 million in reigh rail in FY 2010, he las year or which

complee daa or all reigh ransporaion modes are available. Abou hal o he

naions 25,000 miles o navigable inland waerways are ederally mainained, wih

he Army Corps o Engineers responsible or inrasrucure mainenance. In FY

2010, he ederal governmen spen $882 million on inland waerways. Por own-

ership and managemen varies widely, bu in many saes, public por auhoriies

own mos por inrasrucure and may lease i o privae corporaions such ha

boh public and privae eniies conribue o capial invesmen and mainenance.

Te ederal governmen spen $896 million on por inrasrucure in FY 2010.

o bring our reigh ransporaion sysem in line wih modern sandards, we rec-

ommend increasing annual public invesmen in reigh rail, inland waerways, and

pors by abou $2.5 billion over curren levels. We esimae ha abou $1.4 billion

in new annual reigh rail spending could be used o upgrade racks, improve

signal and conrol sysems, eliminae sree-level reigh rail crossings, and rero

unnels and bridges. $150 million in addiional annual invesmen in inland waer-

ways should go oward repairing and replacing oudaed locks and dams. And anaddiional $1 billion per year should be spen on mainaining and increasing chan-

nel deph and conducing waer-side improvemens in he naions pors.6


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Bu public expendiures alone will no address he pressing repair, mainenance,

and capaciy expansion needs o our goods movemen sysem. More mus be done

o encourage privae invesmen in reigh inrasrucure projecs. Governmen

expendiures should be paricularly argeed oward projecs he privae secor

canno complee on is own and should always seek o draw in as much inves-

men as possible rom he indusries and companies ha bene mos rom giveninrasrucure improvemens. Only hrough collaboraion and innovaion can we

successully implemen a comprehensive, naional plan o repair, modernize, and

expand our goods movemen sysem.

In addiion o increasing public expendiures and leveraging more privae inves-

men, we mus seek o allocae money more ecienly and improve overall sysem

planning and coordinaion. For decades, unding or pors and inland waerways

has been disribued wih an eye o poliically driven geographic consideraions

raher han economic compeiiveness or he relaive urgency o repairs. Funds

should insead be disbursed in a way ha guaranees he highes possible reurnon invesmen. And while many o he naions ha have recenly surpassed he

Unied Saes in inrasrucure qualiy have comprehensive, naional plans or

modernizing and expanding heir sysems, inrasrucure planning and spending

in he Unied Saes is conduced in a siloed ashion ha makes ineragency or

inermodal planning dicul, i no impossible.

In his repor, we will rs discuss in deail he unique challenges aced by our

reigh rail, inland waerways, and pors. We hen will lay ou how he ederal

governmen provides nancial assisance o each mode o ranspor and illusrae

how ineciencies, redundancies, and underuilizaion o exising programs have

undermined necessary invesmen. Finally, we will discuss in deail our general

and secor-specic recommendaions or boosing invesmen in our economi-

cally criical reigh inrasrucure.

One nal noe beore urning o he opic a hand. Tis repor does no address ruck

reigh. Alhough rucks move he larges share o reigh by onnage and are a criical

par o he supply chain, almos all o heir inrasrucure coss are already borne by

axpayers who pay or he mainenance and consrucion o roads and inersaes.

Tis inrasrucure also overwhelmingly benes many oher kinds o road users andsraegies or is improvemen do no all exclusively under he purview o improving

reigh movemen. Consequenly, we eel ruck reigh is beter addressed in con-

juncion wih policies addressing roads and highways, on which saes and localiies

already spend ens o billions o dollars per year$53.3 billion in 2008 alone.7


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Freight rail

TABLE 1

U.S. freight rail by the numbers

Key statistics on U.S. reight rail

Freight moved annually (tons), 2010: 1.7 billion

Percentage o U.S. reight moved (tonnage), 2010: 15.9

Percentage o U.S. reight moved (ton-miles), 2010: 39.5

Miles o track, 2009: 139,118

Ownership o inrastructure: Almost entirely private, barring some state-owned Class II and Class III lines.

FY2010 ederal unding*:

So-called SAFETEA-LU appropriations ($220

million),** Railroad Rehabilitation and

Improvement Financing loans ($172 million),

one-time Transportation Investment Generat-

ing Economic Recovery grants ($169 million,

including unds appropriated to ports or

intermodal rail improvements).

* FY2010 numbers are used, as this was the last year or which complete data or all reight transportation modes are available.

** Federal unds disbursed under the Sae, Accountable, Flexible, Ecient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy or Users program.

Sources: Authors calculations based on sources:

Surace Transportation Reauthorization Bill, available at http://rsiweb.org/advocacy/surace-transportation-bill/.

Federal Highway Administration, Freight Facts and Figures (Department o Transportation, 2011), available at http://www.ops.hwa.dot.gov/reight/reight_analysis/nat_reight_stats/docs/11actsgures/pds/f2011_highres.pd.

Federal Railroad Administration, National Rail Plan: Moving Forward (Department o Transportation, 2010), available at http://www.ra.dot.

gov/downloads/NRP_Sept2010_WEB.pd.

Railroad Rehabilitation & Improvement Financing (RRIF) Program, available at http://www.ra.dot.gov/rpd/reight/1770.shtml#RPO.

Department o Transportation, Capital Grants (2010), available at http://www.dot.gov/tiger/docs/TIGER%202%20Capital%20Highlights.pd.

Current infrastructure conditions

For 180 years, Americas reigh railroads have been he criical link beween

indusrial and agriculural hubs, domesic consumers, pors, and our bigges radingparners in Canada and Mexico. Despie being on he verge o collapse in 1970s, he

indusry has since revived isel, winessing a seady reurn o proabiliy hanks o

increased produciviy, sreamlined regulaions, and improved uel eciency.


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Roughly 140,000 miles o reigh rail rack were operaing wihin he Unied Saes,

moving more han 1.7 billion ons o reigh valued a $427 billion in 2010, he las

year or which complee daa are available.8 O hese rack miles, jus over 93,000

were operaed by one or more o he seven naional Class 1 railroads: BNSF Railway,

CSX ransporaion, Grand runk Corporaion, Kansas Ciy Souhern Railway,

Norolk Souhern Combined Railroad Subsidiaries, Soo Line Corporaion, andUnion Pacic Railroad. ogeher, hey are responsible or he vas majoriy o rail

reigh onnage. Tese seven railroads and heir regional Class II and local Class III

counerpars direcly employed over 175,000 Americans in 2011, and are expeced

o hire an addiional 15,000 employees naionwide in 2012 alone.9

Approximaely 42 percen o all inerciy reigh in he Unied Saes ravels via

rail, including 70 percen o domesically manuacured auomobiles and 70 per-

cen o he coal delivered o power plans.10 While rail may only move 16 percen

o oal naionwide reigh onnage, i is responsible or moving he larges share o

reigh on a on-mile basisnearly 40 percenand demand is only expeced ogrow.11 Te U.S. Deparmen o ransporaion esimaes ha beween 2010 and

2040 onnage ranspored via rail will increase by over 32 percen, or 577 million

ons.12 Tis increase may be even larger i rails share o he goods ransporaion

marke expands in response o road and highway congesion and rising uel prices.

Ye despie he clear imporance o reigh railways o our naions economic

healh, he sysem has no received signican policy atenion or decades, and

in many areas has allen ino a sae o disrepair. Inernaionally, he Unied Saes

ranks only 20h in rail inrasrucure, according o an annual survey conduced

by he World Economic Forum, alling behind mos o Europe and Asias leading

economies, as well as behind Canada.13 Oudaed signaling and conrol ech-

nologies, aging rack incapable o supporing heavier modern rains, inecien

inermodal connecions, and bridges and unnels ha are no ye reroted or

double-sacked rail cars all conribue o cascading delays and climbing coss

hroughou he counry.

Tese problems are compounded by overlapping reigh and passenger rail sys-

ems as well as housands o sree-level rail crossings ha produce regular sched-

uling conics and massive delays. A he naions wors reigh rail botleneck inChicago, 500 reigh rains sruggle o maneuver alongside nearly 800 passenger

rains and sree rac on a daily basis. Te resul: i akes roughly 30 hours or he

average reigh rain o make is way hrough Chicago alone.14


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Due o hese ineciencies, larger and larger numbers o rucks are orced o haul

reigh ha rail canno accommodae, producing ever-increasing congesion on a

highway sysem ha already robs American drivers o 4.8 billion hours in wased

ime every year.15 Inadequae rail inrasrucure orces passenger vehicles o share

congesed roads wih 39,000 rucks rom he pors o Los Angeles and Long

Beach on a daily basis, while in New York Ciy, por conainer rac resuls in13,000 ruck rips per day on he highways in and around he ciy.16

Tis rac resuls in billions o dollars o annual produciviy losses and uel coss

and conribues signicanly o urban polluion. According o a 2007 Cambridge

Sysemaics sudy, wihou increased invesmen 30 percen o all rail miles in

primary corridorscross-counry Class 1 rail lineswill be operaing above

capaciy by 2035, causing even worse congesion and delays afecing every region

o he counry.17

Current financial investment environment

As is he case wih mos ederal invesmen in inrasrucure, reigh rail is nanced

hrough muliple and overlapping unding sreams. Te primary source o ederal

assisance comes in he orm o loans and loan guaranees o up o 35 years

exended o privae, public, and join projecs rom he Railroad Rehabiliaion

and Improvemen Financing program. Auhorized in 1998 as par o he

ransporaion Equiy Ac or he 21s Cenury, he program had an iniial lend-

ing auhoriy o $3.5 billion, which was exended o $35 billion in 2005, wih $7

billion explicily se aside or Class II and III rail projecs legislaors worried migh

oherwise be ignored.

In pracice, however, he program has primarily served hese smaller regional

and local carriers as hey have generally ound i much more dicul o secure

adequae nancing on he privae marke han have heir Class 1 counerpars.18

Despie his massive lending auhoriy, only a minuscule percenage o available

unds have been allocaed. Since he expansion o he Railroad Rehabiliaion

and Improvemen Financing programs lending auhoriy seven years ago, i has

provided a oal o only $1.3 billion in loans, over $500 million o which wen oAmrak or he purchasing o new passenger railcars in 2011.19

Tis ailure o pu available unds o work has been largely due o boh a lack o

poliical suppor rom previous adminisraions and insucien atemps o


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creae awareness o he program.20 Since coming ino oce, he Obama admin-

israion has placed a much greaer emphasis on he Railroad Rehabiliaion and

Improvemen Financing program, and lending has increased, bu he vas majoriy

o is poenial impac remains unapped.

Oher ederal unding or reigh rail inrasrucure is provided by an annual$220 million appropriaion or rail crossing improvemens, which was again

renewed in he recenly passed Moving Ahead or Progress in he 21s Cenury,

or MAP-21, surace ransporaion bill, and via he ransporaion Deparmens

ransporaion Invesmen Generaing Economic Recovery, or IGER, gran

program.21 From 2009 o 2012 he IGER program allocaed over $830 million

in one-ime reigh rail improvemen grans argeing boh rail-line improvemens

and he consrucion o more ecien inermodal connecions wih pors and

warehousing aciliies.22

The funding gap

Much o he unding rom hese various sreams resuls rom emporary provi-

sions ha are subjec o congressional reauhorizaion, making overall availabiliy

o unds unpredicable. Indeed, in he recenly passed MAP-21 bill, he IGER

program was no allocaed unds o coninue operaion beyond FY 2012, alhough

$500 million was se aside or unspecied projecs o naional and regional

signicance.23 Even wih hese addiional unds, however, he Unied Saes is sill

alling well shor o he annual invesmen needed o upgrade and improve our

reigh rail inrasrucure. Te 2007 Cambridge Sysemaics sudy esimaed ha

$148 billion in invesmen would be required beween 2007 and 2035. O ha

amoun, $135 billion would be required or Class 1 lines and $13 billion or shor-

line and regional reigh rail.24

Class 1 railroads anicipaed hey could generae approximaely $96 billion in

unds or addiional invesmens on heir own hrough increased earnings and

revenue growh, higher volumes, and produciviy improvemens. Given hese

carriers increasingand in some cases record-breakingpros, Class 1 reigh

railroads should be expeced o pay or he majoriy o sysem-improvemencoss.25 o heir credi, Class 1 railroads do appear o be ollowing hrough on

heir commimen, and are planning o inves a record $13 billion in improve-

mens in 2012.26


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Assuming Class 1 railroads can raise $96 billion, here sill remains an ununded

balance o $39 billion or Class 1 line improvemens and expansion alone$1.4

billion per year. o cover his gap and coninue o aid Class II and Class III rail-

roads, exising programs will have o eiher be expanded or replaced wih larger

and more dependable iniiaives argeing hose areas mos in need.

For Class I railroads, hese invesmens mus concenrae on removing exising

barriers o heir modernizaion and calibraing assisance o enable and encour-

age urher privae invesmen. Tis can be done by eliminaing so-called a-grade

road crossings, where rain racks cross roadways, as well as by resolving overlap

issues wih passenger services, improving inermodal linkages, and updaing

dilapidaed bridges and undersized unnels. Programs argeing local and regional

lines should concenrae more heavily on he provision o capial or upgrading

rack, improving signal and conrol echnologies, and expanding services.

I his unding or all railroads is no provided eiher by governmen or privaeinvesors, Americas reigh rail inrasrucure may ail o keep pace wih anici-

paed economic and populaion growh, undermining American manuacurers

abiliy o ge back on heir ee and pushing an even greaer share o reigh rans-

por ono Americas overburdened highway sysem.


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TABLE 2

U.S. inland waterways by the numbers

Key statistics on U.S. waterways

Freight moved annually (tons), 2010*: 860 million

Percentage o U.S. reight moved (tonnage), 2010: 3.4

Percentage o U.S. reight moved (ton-miles), 2010: 1215

Miles o navigable waterways 2012:25,000, which include 12,000 that are

ederally maintained and taxed.

Ownership o inrastructure:

Mostly publically maintained; Army Corps

responsible or all inrastructure on ederal

waterways.

FY2010 ederal unding**:

General und appropriations ($796 million),

Inland Waterways Trust Fund allotment to

Army Corps ($73.3 million), Transportation

Investment Generating Economic Recovery

grants ($13 million).


** FY2010 numbers are used, as this was the last year or which complete data or all reight transportation modes are available.

Sources: Authors calculations based on sources:

Department o the Army, Fiscal Year 2010: Civil Works Budget or the U.S. Army Corps o Engineers (2009), available at http://www.usace.army.

mil/Portals/2/docs/civilworks/press_book/budget2010.pd.

Federal Railroad Administration, National Rail Plan: Moving Forward (Department o Transportation, 2010), available at http://www.ra.dot.

gov/downloads/NRP_Sept2010_WEB.pd.

U.S. Army Corps o Engineers, U.S. Port and Inland Waterways Modernization: Preparing or Post-Panamax Vessels (2012), available at http://www.iwr.usace.army.mil/docs/portswaterways/rpt/June_20_U.S._Port_and_Inland_Waterways_Preparing_or_Post_Panamax_Vessels.pd.

Federal Highway Administration, Freight Facts and Figures (Department o Transportation, 2011), available at http://www.ops.hwa.dot.gov/

reight/reight_analysis/nat_reight_stats/docs/11actsgures/pds/f2011_highres.pd.

Inland Waterway Users Boards, Inland Waterways Trust Fund Status Report (2011), available at http://www.waterwaysusers.us/IWTF_Status_65.pd.



Commercially navigable waerways reach ino 41 saes, including all saes eas

o he Mississippi, and service 16 sae capials. Tese inland waerwaysinclud-

ing he enire Mississippi River sysem, he Ohio River Basin, and he Gul

Inracoasal waerway ha sreches rom Florida o exas, among ohersplay

Inland waterways


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a crucial bu requenly overlooked role in connecing Americas hearland o is

coasal ciies and pors.27

Te sysem comprises 25,000 miles o commercially acive inland and inracoasal

waerways, including 12,000 miles o ederally mainained and uel-axed waer-

ways managed by he Army Corps o Engineers. Also included in his nework are191 commercially acive lock sies wih 238 chambers ha help he nework carry

approximaely 15 percen o he naions domesic reigh.28

Each year businesses and consumers hroughou he counry rely on waerways

o move approximaely 860 million ons o cargo valued a more han $343 bil-

lion.29 Inland waerways are a primary mode o ranspor or U.S.-produced grain

and oilseed, as well as or raw maerials and liquid and bulk producs such as coal,

peroleum, chemicals, cemen, processed meals, sand, and gravel.30

Tis nework is paricularly vial or large inland por ciies such as Memphis,S. Louis, Chicago, Minneapolis, Cincinnai, and Pitsburgh, as well as or he

housands o arming communiies ha rely on barges o deliver heir produce

o domesic markes and major pors like New Orleans or expor. Pors served

by inland waerways expored 346 million ons o goods in 2010, much o which

originaed rom inland arms and manuacuring ceners.31

Bu Americas inland waerway sysem has been chronically underunded, allowing

i o deeriorae over he pas ve decades. Wih waerway cargo rac expeced o

grow by almos 50 percen by 2040 i is almos cerain he sysem will be incapable

o handling his increased burden, making sysemwide ailures likely.32

Indeed, he majoriy o he locks and dams operaed by he Army Corps are over

50 years old and are sill in use well beyond heir inended operaional lie.33 As o

2006, 47 percen o all locks had already been classied as uncionally obsolee,

and i no new locks are buil by 2020, his gure will rise o over 80 percen.34

Lock ouages have sharply increased over he las 20 years, resuling in signican

delivery disrupions and increased coss passed on o consumers. On he Ohio

River sysem alone, river haulers los nearly 80,000 hours o lock ouages in 2009,

an increase o 25,000 hours over 2005 levels.35

Also ound on he naions inland waerways are housands o levees and dams no

conneced o lock chambers, and which have similarly been allowed o all ino a

sae o dangerous disrepair. Because hese srucures primary purpose is no


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reigh movemen, hey will no be discussed in deail in his repor. Teir maine-

nance, however, also is criically imporan o public saey and will be addressed

in an upcoming CAP repor on waer inrasrucure.


O all modes o goods ransporaion in he Unied Saes, inland waerways

rely mos heavily on ederal money, which comprises beween 80 percen o 85

percen o all spending on he sysem in any given year.36 General revenue unds

are used o pay or 100 percen o operaion and mainenance cossapproxi-

maely $500 million per yearand also cover hal o he coss o capial improve-

mens.37 Te oher hal is aken rom he Inland Waerways rus Fund, which

collecs money rom users o ederally mainained waerways via a 20 cen per

gallon ax on diesel uel. Every dollar allocaed o he Army Corps rom he Inland

Waerways rus Fund or capial projecs is mached by he ederal governmen.

In recen years, however, he rus und balance has declined precipiously because o

a combinaion o increased expendiures, cos overruns, and decreasing revenues.38

Year-end balances have declined almos every year since scal year 2002, rom a high

o $412 million ha year o $58.5 million a he end o FY 2010. 39 Oulays or capial

improvemenswhich had averaged $133 million per year rom FY 2000 o FY

2009dropped o only $73.3 million in FY 2010, while revenues rom he uel ax

ell o jus $73.9 million, down rom $112.7 million in FY 2001. 40

Tese problems have been compounded by projecs plagued wih unexpeced

complicaions and delays resuling rom insucien year-o-year unding as well

as poor planning and inaccurae cos esimaes. Emblemaic o he problem is he

ongoing lock-and-dam projec on he Ohio River a Olmsed, Illinois, which was

scheduled o have been compleed by 2000 aer being originally auhorized in

1988 a an expeced cos o $775 million. Te Corps now esimaes he projec

will no be nished unil 2024nearly a quarer cenury laer han expeced

and a a revised oal cos o $3.1 billion.41

Congress and he execuive branch have helped o emporarily miigae hedecline in rus und revenues by appropriaing over $400 million in American

Recovery and Reinvesmen Ac unds exemp rom he Inland Waerways rus

Fund maching requiremen o he Corps in 2009, as well as providing or $76.5

million in ransporaion Invesmen Generaing Economic Recovery grans o

This is a ticking

time bomb. Its

a matter o i bu

when there will

be a catastroph

ailure on our

inland waterway

system.

Michael Hennes

Chairman, Natio

Waterways

Foundation,

as quoted in

the Pittsburgh

Post-Gazette,

March 19th 201


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inland waerways hrough FY 2012.42 Tese sop-gap measures, however, have

done nohing o address he rus unds long-erm prospecs and heir implica-

ions or inland waerway inrasrucure. I curren rends coninue, he Corps is

expeced o have sucien appropriaions or jus one ongoing lock replacemen

projeche Olmsed projechrough FY 2016.43

The funding gap

Bringing Americas inland waerway sysem ino a sae o good repair will require

invesmen signicanly above curren levels. A recen assessmen by he Inland

Waerways User Board, an indusry-safed ederal advisory commitee, esimaed

oal required spending on capial projecs a approximaely $7.6 billion over he

nex 20 years.44 Tis equaes o oal annual spending o $380 millionroughly

$150 million more per year more han he average combined annual allomen or

projecs on inland waerways since 1994 rom boh he IWF and general und.45

I his unding is no provided, he sysem will be unable o accommodae

projeced growh, delays will coninue o increase, and he economies o boh

Americas hearland and her coasal pors will sufer as American goods and agri-

culural producs become less and less compeiive.


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Ports

TABLE 3

U.S. ports by the numbers

Key statistics on U.S. ports

Freight moved annually (tons), 2011*: 2 billion

Percentage o U.S. overseas trade moved (tons), 2011: 95

Percentage o U.S. overseas trade moved (value), 2011: 75

Top fve U.S. ports by twenty-oot equivalent (TEU)

capacity, 2011:

Los Angeles, Long Beach, New York/New

Jersey, Savannah, Oakland.

Ownership o inrastructure:

Public port authorities own most port

inrastructure and lease it to private corpora-

tionsboth can contribute to capital invest-

ment and maintenance.

FY2010 ederal unding**:

Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund allotment

to Army Corps ($828 million), Transportation

Investment Generating Economic Recovery

grants ($68.2 million).


** FY2010 numbers are used, as this was the last year or which complete data or all reight transportation modes are available.

Source: Authors calculations based on sources:

Oce o Management and Budget, Fiscal Year 2012 Budget o the U.S. Government Appendix (2012) available at http://m.whitehouse.gov/sites/deault/les/omb/budget/y2012/assets/appendix.pd.

Jo-Ellen Darcy, Response to questions at the House o Representatives, Transportation and Inrastructure Committee, Subcommittee on

Water Resources and Environment, Economic Importance o Seaports, October 26, 2011, available at http://republicans.transportation.house.gov/Media/le/TestimonyWater/2011-10-26%20Darcy.pd.

American Association o Port Authorities, North America Container Trac: 2011 Port Rankings by TEUs (2011), available at http://aapa.les.

cms-plus.com/Statistics/NORTH%20AMERICA%20PORT%20CONTAINER%20TRAFFIC%20RANKING%202011.pd.



Americas pors are key gaeways or expors and impors, and mainaining heirvialiy is essenial or ensuring coninued economic growh. Americas seapors

handle over 2 billion ons o cargo annually, including 70 percen o impored oil

and 48 percen o all goods purchased by American consumers.46 Tis accouns or

95 percen o overseas rade by weigh and 75 percen by value.47 In 2009 alone,


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18/33


Malaysia, Namibia, Panama, and Esonia.53 As o 2009, only wo U.S. pors

hose a Los Angeles and Long Beachranked in he worlds op 20 conainer

pors in erms o EU capaciy, placing 16h and 18h respecively.54 By compari-

son, Chinese seapors accouned or six o he op 10. Shanghais por alone has

greaer conainer capaciy han he op seven U.S. pors combined.55

Almos all U.S. pors sill need o expand capaciy and make signican inra-

srucure invesmens o prepare or increased cargo volume and ship size. Tese

invesmens mus include increasing berh lenghs, crane sizes, and sorage capac-

iy, as well as improving railway and highway access. Some pors will also require

signican channel deepening i hey wish o accommodae pos-Panamax vessels,

as only eigh U.S. pors can currenly handle heir 50-oo dras.56

Addiionally, as he larges pors begin o handle increased volumes and ship sizes,

smaller pors urher down he supply chain may experience a cascade efec as

vessels currenly servicing he larges pors are displaced by pos-Panamax vesselsand redireced o roues previously dominaed by smaller ships.57 Tis means

ha considerable invesmens may also be needed downsream on op o hose

already required a major pors. Unorunaely, opporuniies or growh are oen

consrained by landside congesion and capaciy challenges, meaning signican

innovaion and operaional eciency improvemens will be required.


Por operaors pay or he majoriy o capial improvemens o pors, bu he

ederal governmen provides signican assisance, paricularly or mainaining

channel dephs. Tis is he responsibiliy o he Army Corps o Engineers, which

assiss in covering he coss o required dredging and oher channel mainenance

aciviies wih unds rom he Harbor Mainenance rus Fund. Te und was

esablished in 1986 and collecs revenues by charging a 0.125 percen ax on cargo

value and cruise ship ickes, wih he majoriy o is unding coming rom reigh

impors. For several years i has colleced more in revenues han Congress has

appropriaed or inrasrucure improvemens, resuling in a FY 2010 year-end

cumulaive balance o over $5.4 billion.58

Ta year he und dispersed only $828million, despie collecing almos $1.3 billion.59

While here is money o spend, however, Corps daa indicae ha he money ha

is disbursed is oen spen inecienly on pors ha handle litle o no cargo.


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According o he Congressional Research Service, he naions 20 busies pors

including he pors o Los Angeles, New York, Seatle, Houson, and Savannah

handle 80 percen o he oceangoing ships arriving in he Unied Saes bu

accoun or less han 40 percen o rus und expendiures.60 Insead, millions are

direced o smaller harbors used primarily by shermen and recreaional boas,

neiher o which pays ino he Harbor Mainenance rus Fund.

ake he Oregon Inle in Norh Carolina beween he Ouer Banks and he Cape

Hateras Islands along he saes norh Alanic coas. More han $60 million has

been spen over he las decade o dredge he Oregona shing channel ha

handles no cargo. Over he same ime period only $16.8 million was allocaed o

he pors o Seatle and acoma, which handle approximaely 75 oceangoing ships

and housands o barges per week.61

Harbor Mainenance rus Fund money is also resriced by law or use on waerside

improvemens only, despie he ac ha improved inermodal connecions beweenpors, rail, inland waerways, and highways are among he areas mos in need o

invesmen. o help address his problem he Deparmen o ransporaion did

allocae $256 million in ransporaion Invesmen Generaing Economic Recovery

grans o pors rom 2009 hrough 2012, mos o which was direced oward

inermodal linkage improvemens.62 Bu his unding source has no been renewed

and one-ime grans o individual projecs will no be sucien o solve Americas

sysemic goods movemen problems and ensure ha he enirey o is por inra-

srucure is adequaely prepared or projeced growh.

Forunaely, some progress has been made in acceleraing he delivery o available

unds o por projecs and improving coordinaion beween he agencies responsi-

ble or boh waerside and landside improvemens. As par o is We Can Wai

iniiaive, he Obama adminisraion recenly announced ha seven projecs a

ve major pors would be expedied, wih an addiional 36 projecs o be expe-

died by execuive order in he near uure. Te adminisraion also announced he

creaion o a ask Force on Pors o aciliae beter cross-agency coordinaion and

help assess he relaive imporance o projecs rom a naional perspecive.

Tese developmens represen signican seps in he righ direcion, alhough muchmore remains o be done i Americas pors are o be more ecienly inegraed ino

he naional goods movemen sysem and brough up o world-class sandards.


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The funding gap

o make cerain ha U.S. pors are ready o mee he needs o he economy o

omorrow, signican addiional invesmen on op o ha already being provided

will be required, paricularly concenraing on upgrades o inermodal connec-

ions. While public por auhoriies have esimaed hey will inves $18.3 billionover he nex ve years on op o he $27.6 billion he expec heir privae-secor

erminal parners o inves, his amoun will sill be insucien o cover he coss

o all required waerside and landside improvemens.63 Te Army Corps iniial

esimaes have pu he addiional coss o expanding some pors along boh coass

a beween $3 and $5 billion. Ta oal may change, however, when resuls are

available rom 17 sudies he corps is currenly conducing o assess he coss and

benes o addiional por expansion projecs.64

Regardless o he nal cos esimae, i is clear ha American pors are alling behind.

Caerpillar Inc., he worlds larges manuacurer o consrucion and mining equip-men, has already moved 30 percen o 40 percen o is expor and impor opera-

ions o Canada in recen years o cu down on coss.65 Tis is no surprising given

Canadas mulibillion dollar invesmens in is pors, including he recenly opened

aciliy a Prince Ruper on Briish Columbia provinces Pacic coas. Tis por is

no only wo shipping-days closer o he major Asian markes han are Americas

souhern Caliornia pors bu also ofers lower rail raes or cargo raveling o

Chicago han can American rail lines operaing ou o Los Angeles.66

Wihou immediae and subsanive inervenion America risks undermining

essenial economic growh and waching is rade divered elsewhere, poenially

jeopardizing millions o jobs in he process.


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o bring Americas goods movemen inrasrucure ino a sae o good repair

and adequaely prepare ourselves or he economic challenges o omorrow, we

mus no only increase spending bu also reorm he ways in which governmen

nances is invesmens and leverages privae capial. In his secion we will se ou

our recommendaions or overcoming he invesmen gap and resoring Americas

waerways, reigh rail, and pors o he world-class condiion necessary o enable

uure prosperiy.

Firs we will look a general soluions applicable o all secors o good ranspora-

ion. Ten we will deail more mode-specic proposals.

Increased public investment

o keep pace wih economic developmen and a growing populaion, all goods

movemen modes will require some addiional public invesmen on op o ha

already being provided. Te gures below represen our conservaive esimaes o

addiional annual spending needed per secor:

Freigh rail: $1.4 billion. Tese unds are needed o eliminae a-grade rail

crossings, rero unnels and bridges, and expand nework-operaing capabili-

ies. Money should also be used o improve inermodal linkages wih pors and

warehousing aciliies and o reduce congesion caused by scheduling conics

and roue overlaps wih passenger rail.

Inland waerways: $150 million. Tese unds are needed o repair and replace

oudaed lock-and-dam aciliies and o inves in landside improvemens ainland pors o improve inermodal ransers and accommodae increased

reigh volumes and ship sizes.

Closing the freight

infrastructure gap


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Pors: $1 billion. Tese unds are needed or mainaining and increasing channel

dephs and or conducing oher waer-side improvemens. Tis would bring

annual expendiures rom he Harbor Mainenance rus Fund o approxi-

maely $1.8 billion annually. Tis annual expendiure level should be mainained

unil he unds balance alls o $1 billion. No new revenues will be needed, as

he rus und balance and projeced uure revenues are likely o be sucien omee hese needs.

ogeher, hese spending increases would amoun o roughly $2.5 billion in addi-

ional annual expendiures over curren unding levels. While presen scal uncer-

ainy migh make such appropriaions appear dicul o accommodae, hese

invesmens are essenial and make sound economic sense. No only will hese

invesmens enable economic growh in he long erm, bu hey will produce hou-

sands o jobs almos immediaely in many o he secors hi wors by he recession.

I should be noed, however, ha hese esimaes are based on each modes currenshare o he goods movemen marke, and do no include any addiional alloca-

ions ha migh be made o increase he marke shares o specic secors. Such

policies have been advocaed by many concerned wih he environmenal and

public healh coss o reigh ranspor as well as hose atemping o maximize

he eciency o he sysem as a whole. Tis is primarily due o he greaer uel

eciency o reigh rail and barge ranspor compared o ruck ranspor. Freigh

rains and barges can ge 413 on-miles per gallon and 576 on-miles per gallon,

respecively, compared o only 110 on-miles per gallon or rucks.67

While consrained by geographic barriers and available speeds, increasing he

share o reigh moved by hese modes could signicanly reduce polluion and

improve public healh while also reducing congesion and coss.

Increased private investment

Policymakers should also look ino opions or atracing addiional privae capial

o major goods movemen-relaed inrasrucure projecs. Tis could be donehrough increased use o public-privae parnerships, or by ofering special-pur-

pose ax credi bonds. o make such invesmens atracive would likely require

more widespread applicaion o user ees o pay back invesors.


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While such mehods may require signican culural shis and aleraions o

exising sauesparicularly in he case o inland waerwayshey hold grea

poenial or increasing invesmen in vial problem areas while a leas parially

reducing he governmens cos burden. Tis can be done by allocaing money

more ecienly, improving sysem coordinaion and inegraion on he railways,

waerways, and pors. Les look a each in urn.

Allot money more efficiently

o ensure ha ederal spending achieves he maximum possible impac, muliple

commonsense changes mus also be made o he mehodologies used o allo proj-

ec unding. Such changes are paricularly needed in he allocaion processes or

pors and inland waerways, which or decades have ocused more on disbursing

unds based on geography and poliics han on maximizing economic eciency.

Funds should be disbursed in a way ha guaranees he highes reurn on each dollar

spen and ensures ha allocaions inended o improve goods movemen are acually

direced oward ha purpose. o his end, we recommend ha Congress require he

Army Corps o Engineers no only o coninue conducing he projec cos-bene

analyses hey currenly do, bu also require hem o rank all projecs in a porolio

on he basis o heir poenial benes. Tis would help o ensure ha hose projecs

wih he greaes poenial economic impac are underaken rs and ha Congress

and he American axpayer are able o ge he bigges bang or heir buck.

Improve system coordination and integration

While many naions inves in inrasrucure on he basis o a naional inrasruc-

ure plan, planning and spending in he Unied Saes is conduced in a horoughly

siloed ashion wih exremely limied inerprogram or inerdeparmenal plan-

ning. Projecs are generally unded on an individual basis, oen ignoring poenial

cross-mode redundancies and more general sysemic needs.

Te Army Corps, or example, does no ake ino consideraion reigh railimprovemens along he Mississippi River when allocaing unding or nearby

waerway improvemens. Whas more, he Army Corps waerside underakings

are no even coordinaed wih landside invesmens a he same pors unded by

he Deparmen o ransporaion.


24/33


Te various goods movemen modes and he agencies overseeing hem need o

dramaically improve coordinaion beween sysems o accommodae projeced

growh in reigh onnage and on-miles while limiing already crippling conges-

ion. Planning mus be conduced on a less myopic scale, and no signican projecs

should be underaken wihou he inpu o all relevan agencies and deparmens.

Signican invesmen mus also be direced oward upgrading inermodal con-

necions and ensuring ha goods are moved rom poin A o poin B in he mos

ecien manner possible. Spending on pors, waerways, rail, airpors, or high-

ways mus cease o be considered as separae or compeing venures and mus be

viewed as par o a naional inegraed plan o reduce congesion, lower coss, and

enable growh in boh he shor and long erm.

Freight rail

In addiion o increased direc ederal invesmen, policymakers should encourage

a more rapid allocaion o Railroad Rehabiliaion and Improvemen Financing

loans. Despie he Obama adminisraions increased emphasis on his program,

only a iny racion o he $35 billion available is being loaned ou.

Tese unds hold he poenial o leverage large-scale privae invesmen in capial

upgrades and rail nework expansionparicularly or Class II and III railroads

a almos zero cos o he governmen. While allocaions will o course be depen-

den on he number and qualiy o applicaions submited, ar more can be done

o marke he program and make i more atracive o boh privae and public

invesors hroughou he counry.

Inland waterways

Tere are a variey o mehods ha canand shouldbe used o raise new rev-

enues, pay or he addiional $150 million per year in new spending we believe is

required o improve he sysem, and o sabilize he Inland Waerways rus Fund.

Firs, we recommend ha he uel ax on diesel be raised rom 20 cens per gallon oa minimum o 24.4 censequal o ha paid by surace ransporaion users. Tis

would raise an addiional $20 million annually while also encouraging more ecien

uel consumpion. Te ax should also be indexed or inaion o ensure ha he

Inland Waerways rus Funds purchasing power does no erode over ime. Since


25/33


1994, he axs nonindexed saus has cos he rus und approximaely $300 million

in orgone revenues, according o he Congressional Research Service.68

Addiional user ees should also be considered o raise revenues and increase

he share o waerway inrasrucure paid or by hose who mos bene rom is

upkeep. Since he 1980s, muliple user-ee proposals have been considered andproposed by presidens on boh sides o he aisle, including a Bush adminisraion

proposal o ully replace he uel ax wih a user ee colleced a lock sies.69 More

recenly, he Obama adminisraion has proposed adding wo separae user ees

one or waerway usage and anoher or lock usageon op o he uel ax , which

could raise up o $1 billion in addiional revenues over 10 years.70 Whichever

mechanism is chosen, we call on Congress o ac quickly o raise he addiional

unds required o suppor required addiional yearly invesmen.

I should be noed, however, ha no all proposals or increasing spending should

be reaed equally. Te Inland Waerway Users Board recenly demonsraeda willingness o increase he uel ax by six o nine cens, bu condiioned his

increase on alering he curren cos-sharing ormula such ha he ederal govern-

men would be wholly responsible or all capial projecs under $100 million.71

Currenly, he ederal governmen is solely responsible or capial projecs only

under $8 million. According o he Congressional Research Service, his proposal

would increase he ederal share o waerway spending rom beween 80 and 85

percen o 90 percen.72

Given ha waerways are already exremely dependen on ederal spending, such

a policy would be unwise. Aleraions o cos-sharing ormulas should be ocused

on more airly disribuing he cos or capial improvemens beween he govern-

men and he sysems users.

Ports

Muliple changes o he Harbor Mainenance rus Fund should be considered

o allow pors o iniiae and complee necessary improvemens. Firs, ederal law

should be changed o allow or hese unds o be used or landside improvemens.Tis will allow pors o adequaely address inermodal connecion needs, hereby

minimizing congesion and increasing eciency.


26/33


Policymakers should also look ino opions or levying user ees on hose bene-

ciaries o rus und invesmens who do no currenly conribue o he Harbor

Mainenance rus Fund. Tese include commercial shing vessels and privae

recreaional cra ha pay no ees, as well as domesic reigh carriers who oen

avoid paying he 0.125 percen ax. Army Corps daa esimae ha approximaely

$500 million per year goes uncolleced rom hese carriersroughly eigh imesmore han he oal amoun hey currenly pay.73 While he corps has aken some

seps o increase cooperaion wih Cusoms and Border Proecion o improve

collecion, more mus be done.

Finally, lawmakers may wan o evaluae he poenial benes o alering he

Harbor Mainenance rus Fund ax in such a way ha a porion o he ax would

be levied based on ship volume insead o only on cargo value. Tis idea, rs

proposed by he Clinon adminisraion, would orce shippers o a leas parially

assume responsibiliy or he coss o using larger ships. Currenly only por

auhoriies and governmens cover hese coss, as hey alone are responsible orchannel deepening, equipmen replacemen, and dock renovaions.


27/33


When he golden spike was driven in Promonory Summi, Uah in 1869, i repre-

sened he compleion o an asounding echnological ea o railroad engineering

and he beginning o a new era. In he cenury ha ollowed, Americas govern-

men and enrepreneurs ogeher laid he oundaion o an economy ha would

surpass anyhing known beore ia oundaion o seel, imber, and cemen.

Bu as ime passed and responsibiliies were ignored, cracks began o appear in he

bridges, locks, dams, and railways ha a one ime could claim no peer he worldover. In recen decades, he Unied Saes has done litle bu si back and wach as

is neighbors and compeiors poured billions ino modern rail, waerways, and

pors, all a he expense o American compeiiveness abroad.

Lawmakers in Washingon now recognize ha i our naion is o keep pace hey

mus change he way hey do business, and he mos recen surace ranspora-

ion bill passed by Congress in June does conain language esablishing a Naional

Freigh Program. Te bill recognizes he imporance o improving he naional

reigh nework o economic compeiiveness and o reducing congesion. Is unor-

unae ha he bill ocuses almos exclusively on ruck reigh, wih only limied

provisions or improving rail-highway grade separaions and inermodal aciliies.

Bu he Obama adminisraion can use he requiremen or planning o open

he door o he developmen o a broader naional reigh plan.74 Concenraing

on highway improvemens alone will no sucienly address he naions goods

movemen needs. An efecive naional reigh plan mus opimize he naions

railways, waerways, and pors in order o reduce he cos o goods movemen and

congesion or businesses and individual ravelers.

I he Unied Saes is o regain is economic ooing i has no opion bu o

reinves in he sysem o goods movemen ha enabled is pas prosperiy. Such

invesmen no only would enable susained economic growh in long erm bu

could also produce housands o jobs almos immediaely and ofer hope o many

Conclusion


28/33


o hose hi hardes by he recession. Wheher his invesmen akes place now or

a a much higher cos in he uure is up o odays policymakers, who mus decide

how many more billions o dollars hey are willing o wach go up in exhaus a

collapsing lock sies, gridlocked rail botlenecks, and overburdened por erminals

hroughou he counry.


29/33


About the authors

Donna Cooper is a Senior Fellow wih he Economic Policy eam a American

Progress. Formerly he depuy mayor or policy or Philadelphia and secreary o

policy and planning or he Commonwealh o Pennsylvania, Cooper brings 20

years managing large-scale programs o assis sruggling amilies o exi povery.Her experience ranges rom homeless jobs programs o holisic raining and sup-

por programs aimed a single mohers. She has writen exensively on inrasruc-

ure a CAP.

Kristina Costa is a research assisan in economic policy a he Cener. She has

writen on regulaory policy, governmen reorm, innovaion, educaion, and

inrasrucure, among oher areas. Cosa received her B.A. in poliical philosophy

rom Wellesley College. Prior o joining CAP, she worked as a legislaive corre-

sponden or Rep. Carol Shea-Porer (D-NH).

Keith Miller is an inern wih he economic policy eam a he Cener or American

Progress and a suden a he Georgeown Public Policy Insiue.

Acknowledgements

We are graeul or he generous suppor o Bernard Schwarz and he

Rockeeller Foundaion.


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1 Federal Highway Administration, Freight Facts andFigures 2011 (Department o Transportation, 2011),available at http://www.ops.hwa.dot.gov/reight/reight_analysis/nat_reight_stats/docs/11actsgures/pds/2011_highres.pd.

2 Building Americas Future, Falling Apart and FallingBehind (2011), available at http://www.bauture.com/sites/deault/les/Report_0.pd.

3 Paul Davidson, USAs creaking inrastructure holdsback economy, USA Today, May 20, 2012, availableat http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/story/2012-05-20/creaking-inrastructure/55096396/1.

4 Texas Transportation Institute, 2011 Urban MobilityReport (2011), available at http://tti.tamu.edu/docu-ments/mobility-report-2011.pd.

5 Federal Register 77 (84), May 1, 2012, available at http://www.gpo.gov/dsys/pkg/FR-2012-05-01/html/2012-10364.htm.

6 Donna Cooper, Meeting the Inrastructure Imperative(Washington: Center or American Progress, 2012),

available at http://www.americanprogress.org/is-sues/2012/02/inrastructure.html.

7 Federal Highway Administration, 2010 Status o theNations Highways, Bridges, and Transit: Conditions andPerormance (Department o Transportation, 2010),Exhibit 6-6, available at http://www.hwa.dot.gov/policy/2010cpr/chap6.htm#2.

8 Federal Highway Administration, Freight Facts andFigures (Department o Transportation, 2011), availableat http://www.ops.hwa.dot.gov/reight/reight_analy-sis/nat_reight_stats/docs/11actsgures/pds/2011_highres.pd.

9 Association o American Railroads, The Economic Im-pact o Americas Freight Railroads (2011) available athttp://www.aar.org/~/media/aar/Background-Papers/

The-Economic-Impact-o-Freight.ashx; Rail Industry

Plans or Growth in 2012, available at http://astlane.dot.gov/2012/01/rail-industry-plans-big-2012.html (lastaccessed June 2012).

10 Americas Inrastructure Report Card: Rail, available athttp://www.inrastructurereportcard.org/act-sheet/rail(last accessed June 2012).

11 Federal Railroad Administration, National Rail Plan:Moving Forward (Department o Transportation,2010) available at http://www.ra.dot.gov/downloads/NRP_Sept2010_WEB.pd.

12 Federal Highway Administration, Freight Facts andFigures.

13 World Economic Forum, The Global CompetitivenessReport, 2011-12 (2011), available at http://www3.weorum.org/docs/WEF_GCR_Report_2011-12.pd.

14 About CREATE, available at http://www.create pro-gram.org/about.htm (last accessed July 2012).

15 Texas Transportation Institute, 2011 Urban MobilityReport (2011) available at http://tti.tamu.edu/docu-ments/mobility-report-2011.pd.

16 Michael S. Bronzini, Relationships Between Land Useand Freight and Commercial Truck Trafc in MetropolitanAreas (Fairax: Transportation Research Board o the Na-tional Academies o Sciences, 2008) available at http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/sr/sr298bronzini.pd.

17 Cambridge Systematics Inc., National Rail FreightInrastructure Capacity and Investment Study (2007),available at http://www.aar.org/~/media/aar/Files/natl_reight_capacity_study.ashx.

18 Railroad Rehabilitation & Improvement Financing(RRIF) Program, available at http://www.ra.dot.gov/rpd/reight/1770.shtml#RPO (last accessed June 2012).

19 Ibid.

20 The Bush administration did not look avorably onthe program and attempted to eliminate it in theirproposed FY 2007 budget, Department o Transporta-tion Budget FY 2007, available at http://www.gpo.gov/dsys/pkg/BUDGET-2007-BUD/pd/BUDGET-2007-BUD-21.pd.

21 Surace Transportation Reauthorization Bill, available

at http://rsiweb.org/advocacy/surace-transportation-bill/ (last accessed July 2012).

22 Authors calculation based on data, Department oTransportation, TIGER 2012 Awards (2012) available athttp://www.dot.gov/tiger/y2012tiger.pd; Departmento Transportation, TIGER 2011 Awards (2011) availableat http://www.dot.gov/tiger/docs/FY2011_TIGER.pd;Department o Transportation, Capital Grants (2010)available at http://www.dot.gov/tiger/docs/TIGER%202%20Capital%20Highlights.pd and Department o

Transportation, Transportation Investment GeneratingEconomic Recovery Grants (2009) available at http://www.dot.gov/tiger/docs/TIGER%20Capital%20High-lights.pd.

23 Moving Ahead or Progress in the 21st Century Act(MAP-21): A Summary o Highway Provisions, availableat http://www.hwa.dot.gov/map21/summaryino.cm

(last accessed July 2012).

24 Cambridge Systematics Inc., National Rail FreightInrastructure Capacity and Investment Study.

25 Abram Brown, Union Pacic on Fast Track to RecordProt, Forbes, July 19, 2012, available at http://www.orbes.com/sites/abrambrown/2012/07/19/union-pacics-on-ast-track-to-record-prots-shares-at-all-time-high/; Norolk Southern sees record prot, TheAltoona Mirror, July 25, 2012, available at http://www.altoonamirror.com/page/content.detail/id/562771/Norolk-Southern-sees-record-prot.html?nav=725;UPDATE 1-Norolk Southern prot up despite coaldrop, Reuters, July 25, 2012, available at http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/07/24/norolksouthern-earnings-idINL2E8IOD5420120724.

26 Rail Industry Plans or Growth in 2012, available at

http://astlane.dot.gov/2012/01/rail-industry-plans-big-2012.html (last accessed June 2012).

27 Americas Inrastructure Report Card: Inland Water-ways, available at http://www.inrastructurereportcard.org/act-sheet/inland-waterways (last accessed June2012).

Endnotes


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28 U.S. Army Corps o Engineers, U.S. Port and InlandWaterways Modernization: Preparing or Post-PanamaxVessels (2012) available at http://www.iwr.usace.army.mil/docs/portswaterways/rpt/June_20_U.S._Port_and_Inland_Waterways_Preparing_or_Post_Panamax_Ves-sels.pd.

29 Federal Highway Administration, Freight Facts andFigures.

30 David Grier, The Declining Reliability o the U.S. InlandWaterway System (Alexandria: U.S. Army Corps o

Engineers, 2005), available at http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/archive/Conerences/MTS/4A%20GrierPa-per.pd.

31 U.S. Army Corps o Engineers, U.S. Port and InlandWaterways Modernization: Preparing or Post-PanamaxVessels (2012), available at http://www.iwr.usace.army.mil/docs/portswaterways/rpt/June_20_U.S._Port_and_Inland_Waterways_Preparing_or_Post_Panamax_Ves-sels.pd.

32 Authors calculation based on data, Federal HighwayAdministration, Freight Facts and Figures.

33 U.S. Army Corps o Engineers, Inland Waterway Naviga-tion: Value to the Nation (2009), available at http://www.corpsresults.us/docs/VTNInlandNavBro_loresprd.pd.

34 Americas Inrastructure Report Card: Inland Water-

ways, available at http://www.inrastructurereportcard.org/act-sheet/inland-waterways (last accessed June2012).

35 Jennier Levitz and Cameron McWhirter, Old Locks JamRiver Trafc, The Wall Street Journal, January 6, 2011,available at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704735304576057903661752050.html#.

36 Congressional Research Service, Inland Waterways:Recent Proposals and Issues or Congress (2012) avail-able at www.as.org/sgp/crs/misc/R41430.pd.

37 Ibid.

38 Ibid.

39 Inland Marine Transportation System Capital Invest-ment Strategy Team, Inland Marine Transportation

Systems (IMTS) Capital Projects Business Model FinalReport (2010), available at http://www.waterway-scouncil.org/WCIExtras/IMTS_IWUB_Report.pd.

40 Inland Marine Transportation System Capital Invest-ment Strategy Team, Inland Marine TransportationSystems (IMTS) Capital Projects Business Model FinalReport; Inland Waterway Users Boards, Inland Wa-terways Trust Fund Status Report (2011), available athttp://www.waterwaysusers.us/IWTF_Status_65.pd.

41 Len Boselovic, Locked and Dammed: Ohio River proj-ect decades late, billions over, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette,March 19, 2012, available at http://old.post-gazette.com/pg/12079/1217879-113.stm.

42 Inland Waterways Users Board, Inland Waterways UsersBoard 23rd Annual Report to the Secretary o the Armyand the United States Congress (2009), available at

http://www.waterwaysusers.us/Annual_Report_23.pd; Authors calculation based on data, Department oTransportation, TIGER 2012 Awards (2012) available athttp://www.dot.gov/tiger/y2012tiger.pd; Departmento Transportation, TIGER 2011 Awards (2011) availableat http://www.dot.gov/tiger/docs/FY2011_TIGER.pd;Department o Transportation, Capital Grants (2010)available at http://www.dot.gov/tiger/docs/TIGER%202%20Capital%20Highlights.pd; Department o

Transportation, Transportation Investment GeneratingEconomic Recovery Grants (2009) available at http://www.dot.gov/tiger/docs/TIGER%20Capital%20High-lights.pd.

43 Congressional Research Service, Inland Waterways:Recent Proposals and Issues or Congress.

44 Inland Waterways Users Board, Inland Waterways UserBoard 24th Annual Report (2010) available at http://www.waterwaysusers.us/Annual_Report_FY10.pd.


46 Jo-Ellen Darcy, Response to questions at the Houseo Representatives, Transportation and InrastructureCommittee, Subcommittee on Water Resources andEnvironment, Economic Importance o Seaports, Octo-ber 26 2011, http://republicans.transportation.house.gov/Media/le/TestimonyWater/2011-10-26%20Darcy.pd.

47 Ibid.

48 Bureau o Transportation Statistics, Americas ContainerPorts: Linking Markets at Home and Abroad (Depart-ment o Transportation, 2011) available at http://www.bts.gov/publications/americas_container_ports/2011/pd/entire.pd.

49 Company acts and inormation, available at http://www.maerskline.com/link/?page=brochure&path=/about_us/company_ino (last accessed July, 2012).

50 Bureau o Transportation Statistics, Americas ContainerPorts: Linking Markets at Home and Abroad (Depart-ment o Transportation, 2011) available at http://www.bts.gov/publications/americas_container_ports/2011/pd/entire.pd; U.S. Army Corps o Engineers, U.S.Port and Inland Waterways Modernization: Preparingor Post-Panamax Vessels (2012) available at http://www.iwr.usace.army.mil/docs/portswaterways/rpt/June_20_U.S._Port_and_Inland_Waterways_Prepar-ing_or_Post_Panamax_Vessels.pd.

51 U.S. Army Corps o Engineers, U.S. Port and InlandWaterways Modernization: Preparing or Post-PanamaxVessels.

52 Congressional Research Service, Harbor MaintenanceTrust Fund Expenditures (2011) available at http://www.as.org/sgp/crs/misc/R41042.pd.

53 World Economic Forum, The Global CompetitivenessReport, 2011-12 (2011), available at http://www3.weorum.org/docs/WEF_GCR_Report_2011-12.pd.

54 Bureau o Transportation Statistics, Americas ContainerPorts: Linking Markets at Home and Abroad.

55 Building Americas Future Educational Fund, BuildingAmericas Future: Falling Apart and Falling Behind(2011) available at http://www.bauture.com/sites/deault/les/Report_0.pd.

56 In addition to these eight ports (Seattle, Oakland, LosAngeles, Long Beach, Baltimore, New York, Norolk, andCharleston when at high tide), two others (Miami and

Savannah) are currently expanding their drat capacity.U.S. Army Corps o Engineers, U.S. Port and InlandWaterways Modernization: Preparing or Post-PanamaxVessels.. (2012



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58 Ofce o Management and Budget, Balances o BudgetAuthority Fiscal Year 2012, available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/deault/les/omb/budget/y2012/assets/balances.pd. The OMB estimates indicate theyear-end balance or FY 2011 may reach $6.9 billion.

59 Ofce o Management and Budget, Fiscal Year 2012Budget o the U.S. Government Appendix (2012)available at http://m.whitehouse.gov/sites/deault/les/omb/budget/y2012/assets/appendix.pd.

60 Congressional Research Service, Harbor Maintenance

Trust Fund Expenditures.

61 Ibid.

62 Authors calculation based on data, Department oTransportation, TIGER 2012 Awards; Department oTransportation, TIGER 2011 Awards; Departmento Transportation, Capital Grants (2010), availableat http://www.dot.gov/tiger/docs/TIGER%202%20Capital%20Highlights.pd; Department o Transporta-tion, Transportation Investment Generating EconomicRecovery Grants (2009), available at http://www.dot.gov/tiger/docs/TIGER%20Capital%20Highlights.pd.

63 American Association o Port Authorities, U.S. PortInrastructure Investment Survey: 2012-2016 (2012),available at http://aapa.les.cms-plus.com/2012%20AAPA%20Port%20Inrastructure%20Spending%20Sur-vey%20Summary.pd.


65 Paul Davidson, USAs creaking inrastructure holdsback economy, USA Today, May 20, 2012, availableat http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/story/2012-05-20/creaking-inrastructure/55096396/1.


67 Federal Railroad Administration, National Rail Plan:Moving Forward (Department o Transportation,2010), available at http://www.ra.dot.gov/downloads/

NRP_Sept2010_WEB.pd.


69 Ibid.

70 Ibid.

71 Ibid.

72 Ibid.

73 Congressional Research Service, Harbor MaintenanceTrust Fund Expenditures.

74 S. 1813 MAP-21, available at http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/112/s1813/text.


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