Freight data requirements for statewide transportation systems planning

user's manual. Research sponsored by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).
Author(s)
Roger Creighton Associates, Inc. & RL Banks and Associates, Inc.
Year
Abstract

The purpose of this research report is to identify and rank data essential to state freight transportation planning and build a sound data base that will be useful to those engaged in such planning at the state level. The research approach consisted of identifying the principal problems/issues facing states, and deducing the types of state-level planning activities needed to deal with these problems/issues and their corresponding data requirements. Available planning methods and their data requirements were identified, available secondary data sets were catalogued, and the unmet data needs were critically assessed and alternative strategies were proposed to improve the data supply. The major freight problems/issues identified indicate that the greatest data need was for physical and operating data, especially information on facility location, operation characteristics, use, and capacity. There is a strong need for information on vehicle flow and on plant condition and unit costs, both capital and operating. Data supporting impact estimation are of moderate importance, especially data relating transportation system change to public health and safety. Four kinds of planning activities were examined in detail. Demand forecasting, modal choice analysis, economic evaluation, and impact estimation. The examination was for three purposes: To identify the likely planning activities by stage, determine data requirements, and assess the current state of the art. Substantial resources were found that could be used for freight statewide transportation systems planning. The data sources are catalogued to aid the state planners in locating and obtaining suitable data as required for freight planning. The most important unmet data needs were found to be commodity flow and traffic flow data, routing data, rates/tariffs data, transport level-of-service data, and unit cost data. Strategies for improving the quality and quantity of the data include assembling similar data sets, publishing and diseminating data, establish close working relationships with carriers, and expand the census of transportation. (Author/publisher)

Publication

Library number
781505 ST S
Source

Washington, D.C., Transportation Research Board TRB, 1977, 155 p.; National Cooperative Highway Research Program NCHRP ; Report 178 - ISBN 0-309-02751-9

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