white paper
An Initial Assessment of Freight Bottlenecks on Highways
prepared for
Federal Highway Administration
Office of Transportation Policy Studies
prepared by
Cambridge Systematics, Inc.
100 CambridgePark Drive, Suite 400
Cambridge, Massachusetts 02140
in association with
Battelle Memorial Institute
Columbus, Ohio
October 2005
Also available in PDF (2.82 MBs)
Table of Contents
Executive Summary
1.0 Introduction
- 1.1 The Problem of Congestion
- 1.2 The Federal Role
- 1.3 The Objective of This Report
2.0 National Freight System Capacity and Performance
- 2.1 The Impact of Congestion
- 2.2 Highway Bottlenecks
3.0 Highway Truck Bottleneck Typology
4.0 Methodology
- 4.1 Locating Highway Bottlenecks
- 4.2 Determining Truck Volumes at the Bottlenecks
- 4.3 Estimating Truck Hours of Delay at the Bottlenecks
5.0 Highway Truck Bottlenecks
- 5.1 Overview
- 5.2 Interchange Bottlenecks for Trucks
- 5.3 Steep-Grade Bottlenecks for Trucks
- 5.4 Signalized Intersection Bottlenecks for Trucks
- 5.5 Lane-Drop Bottlenecks for Trucks
6.0 Conclusions and Recommendations
Appendix A
- Highway Interchange Bottlenecks
Appendix B
Appendix C
- Signalized Intersection Bottlenecks
Appendix D
List of Tables
- ES.1 Truck Hours of Delay by Type of Highway Freight Bottleneck
- 3.1 Truck Bottleneck Typology
- 5.1 Truck Hours of Delay by Type of Highway Freight Bottleneck
- 5.2 Top 25 Highway Interchange Bottlenecks for Trucks Ranked By Annual Hours of Delay for All Trucks
- 5.3 Top 25 Highway Interchange Bottlenecks for Trucks (Ranked By Annual Hours of Delay for Large Trucks Making Trips Longer Than 500 Miles)
- 5.4 The Worst Physical Bottlenecks in the United States, 2002
- 5.5 List of Appendix A Tables of Highway Interchange Bottlenecks for Trucks
- A.1 Top 25 Highway Interchange Bottlenecks for Trucks Ranked By Annual Hours of Delay for All Trucks
- A.2 Top 25 Highway Interchange Bottlenecks for Trucks Ranked By Annual Hours of Delay for Large Trucks Making Longer-Distance Trips
- A.3 Top 25 Highway Interchange Bottlenecks for Trucks (Ranked By Annual Hours of Delay for Large Trucks Making Longer Trips Greater Than 500 Miles)
- A.4 Highway Interchange Bottlenecks for Trucks (All High-Ranked Bottlenecks Ranked By Annual Hours of Delay for Large Trucks Making Longer Trips Greater Than 500 Miles)
- A.5 All Highway Interchange Bottlenecks for Trucks Ranked By Annual Hours of Delay for All Trucks
- A.6 The Worst Physical Bottlenecks in the United States, 2002
- B.1 Top 25 Steep-Grade Bottlenecks on Freeways Used As Intercity Truck Corridors
- B.2 Top 25 Steep-Grade Bottlenecks on Arterials Used As Intercity Truck Corridors
- B.3 Steep-Grade Bottlenecks on Arterials Used As Urban Truck Corridors
- B.4 Steep-Grade Bottlenecks on Arterials Used As Truck Access Routes
- C.1 Top 25 Signalized Intersection Bottlenecks on Arterials Used As Intercity Truck Corridors
- C.2 Top 25 Signalized Intersection Bottlenecks on Arterials Used As Intermodal Connectors
- C.3 Signalized Intersection Bottlenecks on Arterials Used As Urban Truck Corridors
- C.4 Top 25 Signalized Intersection Bottlenecks on Arterials Used As Truck Access Routes
- D.1 Top 25 Capacity Bottlenecks on Freeways Used As Intercity Truck Corridors
- D.2 Top 25 Capacity Bottlenecks on Arterials Used As Intercity Truck Corridors
- D.3 Top 25 Capacity Bottlenecks on Arterials Used As Urban Truck Corridors
- D.4 Capacity Bottlenecks on Arterials Used As Intermodal Connectors
- D.5 Top Capacity Bottlenecks on Arterials Used As Truck Access Routes
List of Figures
- ES.1 Major Highway Interchange Bottlenecks for Trucks
- 2.1 Total Logistics Cost as Percentage of U.S. Gross Domestic Product
- 2.2 Congested Highways
- 2.3 Annual Congestion Costs
- 2.4 Vehicle Miles of Travel and Roadway Lane Miles
- 2.5 Annual Highway Needs Compared to Annual Highway Revenues
- 2.6 Potentially Congested Highways
- 2.7 Freight Tons, Value, and Ton-Miles by Mode
- 2.8 Average Annual Daily Truck Traffic
- 2.9 Sources of Congestion
- 5.1 Interchange Capacity Bottlenecks on Freeways Used as Urban Truck Corridors
- 5.2 Distribution of Annual Truck Hours of Delay at Highway Interchange Bottlenecks, 2004
- 5.3 Steep Grade Bottlenecks on Arterials Used As Intercity Truck Corridors
- 5.4 Distribution of Annual Truck Hours of Delay at Steep Grade Bottlenecks
- 5.5 Signalized Intersection Bottlenecks on Arterials Used As Urban Truck Corridors
- 5.6 Distribution of Truck Hours of Delay at Signalized Intersection Bottlenecks
- 5.7 Capacity Bottlenecks on Freeways Used As Intercity Truck Corridors
- 5.8 Distribution of Annual Truck Hours of Delay at Lane-Drop Bottlenecks
- A.1 Interchange Capacity Bottlenecks on Freeways Used as Urban Truck Corridors
- B.1 Steep-Grade Bottlenecks on Freeways Used As Intercity Truck Corridors
- B.2 Steep-Grade Bottlenecks on Arterials Used As Intercity Truck Corridors
- B.3 Steep-Grade Bottlenecks on Arterials Used As Urban Truck Corridors
- B.4 Steep-Grade Bottlenecks on Arterials Used As Urban Truck Access Routes
- C.1 Signalized Intersection Bottlenecks on Arterials Used As Intercity Truck Corridors
- C.2 Signalized Intersection Bottlenecks on Arterials Used As Intermodal Connectors
- C.3 Signalized Intersection Bottlenecks on Arterials Used As Urban Truck Corridors
- C.4 Signalized Intersection Bottlenecks on Arterials Used As Truck Access Routes
- D.1 Capacity Bottlenecks on Freeways Used As Intercity Truck Corridors
- D.2 Capacity Bottlenecks on Arterials Used As Intercity Truck Corridors
- D.3 Capacity Bottlenecks on Arterials Used As Urban Truck Corridors
- D.4 Capacity Bottlenecks on Arterials Used As Intermodal Connectors (Code 1-2-3)
- D.5 Capacity Bottlenecks on Arterials Used As Truck Access Routes