This report describes the current multimodal freight transportation system within this binational region (i.e., Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Ontario, and Quebec) and its importance to regional, U.S., and Canadian economies. The report also analyzes the system’s overall performance and related opportunities and constraints to improving performance and to meeting projected freight flows. The multimodal freight transportation system in the Basin is complex. It spans numerous modes, geographies, and jurisdictions, and serves a wide variety of commodity and supply chains. The Basin generates 30% of the combined gross domestic product of the U.S. and Canada and is home to 31% of the two countries’ populations combined. The report includes an analysis of each mode’s capacity and the major commodities each of them moves; the barriers and constraints that impact each mode’s ability to move cargo; the performance implications in terms of major commodity supply chains (coal, automotive parts and machinery, containerized consumer goods, grains, and iron ore); and a strategic freight planning process for multimodal transport chain performance going forward. (Author/publisher)
Abstract