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Freight Mobility Initiative
The movement of goods is critical to our regional economy and our quality of life. At some point, everything we buy, sell and consume begins and ends as freight that must make its way through our regional transportation system from points of production and distribution to our businesses, customers and households. The efficient and reliable movement of freight keeps our regional economy strong and consumer costs down. Freight plays a vital role in the daily lives of our citizens and businesses, whether meeting local interests or involved in global trade. A recently completed study, "The Cost of Congestion to the Portland Economy," found that our region's economy is highly dependent on efficient and reliable transportation connections and that increasing congestion is negatively impacting the region's competitiveness. Failure to invest adequately in transportation improvements results in potential losses of $844 million annually and 6,500 jobs by year 2025. Additional investments in transportation infrastructure generate a return of $2 of every dollar spent. The efficient operation of our regional freight transportation network, however, is being threatened. Increases in traffic congestion and freight tonnage, as well as freight transportation infrastructure investments made by other regions, are undermining our region's competitiveness. Unless we act now to preserve and enhance our existing freight transportation network, our region will suffer economically, impacting our quality of life.
I. Past: the region's emergence as a freight transportation hub Though a toss of a coin determined its name, Portland's success as a transportation gateway has not been by chance. The region's geography, located at the confluence of the two navigable rivers, provided a good starting point. But, more importantly, the past commitment to invest in the region's infrastructure created a superior transportation system that enabled a diverse array of businesses to thrive and the region to prosper. The Portland/Vancouver region is unique in that two international ports, two intercontinental rail lines, two interstate highways, and an international airport all converge here. Though the region itself is a relatively small market, purposeful investments in our transportation infrastructure enabled the region to serve outside markets beyond our population base, thereby expanding our economy. As a result, the region is the fourth largest gateway on the west coast and provides domestic and international market access not only for people and businesses in the region, but throughout the Pacific Northwest. II. Present: pressure on the freight network and threats to the economy Increasingly, our region's businesses are competing in the international marketplace. The economy of our region is twice as dependent on global trade as the nation as a whole. In addition, 54% of the Portland/Vancouver economy, compared to 49% of the national economy, relies on an efficient transportation system, and 20% of local jobs are directly tied to freight and distribution industries. The traded sector industries that form the backbone of the regional economy located here because of the area's attractiveness and competitiveness for their operations. However, their continued existence and growth depends on the quality of the transportation system for freight movement and delivery of products to their customer base. Over the last two decades, our region has experienced rapid growth, more than twice as fast as the rest of the country, and when compared to much larger cities, the Portland metro region has gained unwelcome national attention for its rise among cities in national congestion indicators. According to one national study,1 the annual congestion delay per peak-period traveler has increased nearly six-fold, from 7 hours in 1982 to 39 hours in 2003. The resulting economic losses total approximately $569 million annually. Compounding current capacity constraints, freight tonnage moving through the region is expected to double by 20202, increasing the cost of delay to trucks by 140% and thereby raising consumer costs. When measured by value, the commodities shipped to, from, and through the region are expected to increase to $824 billion in 2030 from $363 billion in 19973. These statistics are particularly troubling given that many of the traded sector businesses at the foundation of our regional economy are transportation dependent. Increasing congestion affects the efficiency and reliability of the region's freight transportation network, impacting business productivity and competitiveness due to higher operating costs tied to an increase in drivers, trucks, time spent on the road and similar factors. Further, other regions are making substantial investments in their multi-modal freight transportation networks, as shown in the text box below. In this region, however, spending on modernization projects to increase freight capacity has not kept up with demand, undermining the long-term competitiveness of our region's economy and businesses.
III. Future: the critical need to invest Time is of the essence. Significant investment in our region's multi-modal freight transportation network is needed to keep pace with expected increases in both people and freight. Failure to heed this call to action will reduce business competitiveness and lead to economic losses. The quality of our freight transportation system is directly linked to the region's economy and business' ability to grow and produce jobs, yet only 9% of our regional transportation funds were invested in freight related projects (the same percentage was invested in bicycle improvements). By significant and immediate investment in our freight transportation infrastructure, businesses can remain competitive and provide quality jobs. This will, in turn, create a stronger economy that can supply the revenues necessary to fund other important public services, such as public schools, police and fire protection, public parks, and the like. We must make significant additional investment in the region's multi-modal freight transportation infrastructure that are strategic and targeted to benefit the regional economy by addressing the needs of current and future traded sector industries located in the region. We simply can no longer overlook the investments that drive the regional economy. IV. Action Plan The following are an initial set of actions required to meet the transportation needs of the region's businesses for competitiveness and growth. 1. Convene a private sector Freight Mobility Coalition to advocate for transportation projects and funding to improve business competitiveness. A new bi-state, private sector regional coalition will provide a cohesive mechanism for stakeholders to coalesce around projects of regional concern and accelerate funding for freight mobility projects at the local, regional, state and federal levels. It is imperative that business be involved in transportation decisions; we have a voice and need to use it more effectively. The coalition will be action oriented, with goals that include promoting the role of freight mobility in the regional economy and interaction among stakeholders, as well as advocating for freight mobility policies, long-term strategic initiatives, project prioritization, and funding. The Columbia River Channel Coalition has shown that this model can be successful in dealing with major regional projects and provides a framework for the new regional freight mobility coalition as it develops a charter to guide its mission, membership, actions and outcomes. 2. Develop transportation policies and projects that support business needs and the region's economic development objectives. There are two upcoming efforts that will demonstrably impact the region's transportation priorities, projects and funding decisions: the update of the Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) and the creation of a Regional Freight Plan. It is essential that these plans result in strategic investments that attract jobs, trade and generate region-wide economic benefits. Metro has indicated their intent to form a Regional Freight Advisory Committee; the roles and responsibilities of that committee should include:
3: Ensure the transportation funding process includes business supported and business needed transportation investments. Currently, investments in our transportation network are based on a large number of factors, including preservation, cost, environmental factors, public support, feasibility, designation of facility (e.g. facility of "statewide significance"), geographic distribution and other factors. Due increasingly scarce resources, however, we need a method to maximize investments in terms of economic benefit and the needs of our region's traded-sector industries. Many state departments of transportation use benefit-cost analyses to help decide the most appropriate investments. However, at the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) level, which makes decisions regarding how federal transportation dollars are spent, this type of analyses is not widely used. With the growing recognition of the role of freight mobility in the regional economy, it is vital to add economic criteria into the regional transportation decision-making process. Consideration should be given to the following criteria:
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There is no silver bullet for strengthening the region's multi-modal freight transportation infrastructure. Efforts must be made to expand and enhance the capacity of rail, water, air and truck modes. As shown at right, every mode will carry an increased share of the region's freight tonnage. However, it is important to note that trucks play a particularly vital role, moving the lion's share of goods. This is because trucks carry freight the "last mile" from rail, water or air cargo facilities to businesses and households throughout the region. 