Al-Qadisiyah University Dr.

Hamsa Abbas
College of Engineering Fourth Stage
Road and Transport Department Transport Planning -Lecture10

Freight Transport Planning-an Introduction

For many years, the transportation planning process focused almost exclusively on
passenger transportation. The models developed, the data collected to support
these models, and the resulting policy and investment strategies were each
concerned primarily with the movement of vehicles and people. Freight
movement entered into planning consideration primarily as a truck–passenger
car equivalent factor used to estimate freeway capacity. With the passage of the
Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) in 1991, transportation
planners and policy makers became more interested in the concept of intermodal
transportation as applied to both passenger and freight movement.

Transportation planners need to know how much freight and what type of goods
are moving on the transportation network, and from which distribution/ warehouse
centers these flows are originating. These and other data about the mode of
transportation, vehicle or vessel characteristics, and types of facilities used are
needed to track and monitor system conditions and performance to assess the
many ways freight affects the transportation system.

Goals, Objectives, and Performance Measures

As in other planning processes, freight planning studies usually start with the
identification of goals, objectives, and performance measures.

1. Goals and Objectives

Some examples of goals and objectives for freight studies include:

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Al-Qadisiyah University Dr. Hamsa Abbas
College of Engineering Fourth Stage
Road and Transport Department Transport Planning -Lecture10

Goals
• Create a level playing field for freight in the regional planning process.
• Address the differing regional and corridor needs of freight movement and
activities.
• Minimize the cost and improve the reliability of goods movement within the
region.
• Improve goods movement in terms of ease, reliability, and transportation
system-related cost.
Objectives
• Improve the movement of goods in the region by encouraging expedient and
cooperative multimodal shipment of goods.
• Improve the physical characteristics of the transportation system for freight-
related transportation between shipping and receiving points.
• Understand and address issues of concern to the freight community.

2. Performance Measures
As in other modern transportation planning processes, performance measures are
used to monitor the performance of the transportation system with respect to
freight movement. The value of performance measures to the freight
transportation planning process was best described in a freight planning effort as:

➢ Linking Strategies to Vision and Goals. Performance measures can be

developed and applied to help link plan strategies to the vision and goals of
the plan. Linking performance measures to the Vision and Goals is central
to developing a performance-based project evaluation process.
➢ Needs Assessment and Strategy Development. Performance measures can
be applied to assess condition, performance, and use of the transportation

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Al-Qadisiyah University Dr. Hamsa Abbas
College of Engineering Fourth Stage
Road and Transport Department Transport Planning -Lecture10

system. They also help identify system gaps where additional projects,
programs, or policies may be needed.
➢ Project Evaluation and Prioritization. Performance measures can provide
information needed to know when and where to invest in projects and
programs that provide the greatest benefits. Performance measures can help
determine which projects, programs, and policies should be included in
high-priority strategies and can also help in the analysis of tradeoffs and/or
synergies between different projects, programs, and policies.
➢ Managing Performance. Applying performance measures can improve the
management and delivery of programs, projects, and services. The right
performance measures can highlight the technical, administrative, and
financial issues critical to governing the fundamentals of any program or
project.
➢ Communicating Results. Performance measures help communicate the
value of public investments in transportation and provide a concrete way for
stakeholders to see an agency’s commitment to improving the
transportation system and help build support for transportation investments.
➢ Strengthening Accountability. Performance measures promote
accountability with respect to the use of taxpayer resources and reveal
whether transportation investments are providing the expected performance
or demonstrate the need for improvements.

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Al-Qadisiyah University Dr. Hamsa Abbas
College of Engineering Fourth Stage
Road and Transport Department Transport Planning -Lecture10

Truck Freight Performance Measures

Reducing:
1. Truck travel time—Annual hours of delay, defined as travel time above the
congestion threshold in units of vehicle hours for commercial vehicles on the
Interstate Highway System. To evaluate project proposals, USDOT uses regional
travel demand models to estimate the reduction or change in truck travel time.
2. Direct truck operating cost—Using the value of time collected from national
truck carrier surveys, the following formula is used to determine direct cost:
change in commercial vehicle hours traveled x truck operating cost per hour =
change in direct truck operating cost.
3. Truck engine emissions—The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s)
Motor Vehicle Emission Simulator (MOVES) modeling system estimates
emissions for mobile sources covering a broad range of pollutants and allows
multiple scale analysis.

Improving:
1. Economic output—Defined as employment, and regional and state economic
output.

2. Network resiliency—Defined as the ability to reduce closures of the state’s

designated Truck Freight Economic Corridors that are due to severe weather or
natural disasters and lasting 24 hours or more.
3. Reliability—Spot speed data collected as part of the DOT’s performance
monitoring program. The formula for the 80th percentile reliability index is:

80𝑡ℎ 𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑇𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑙 𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒

𝐹𝑟𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑅𝐼80 =
𝐴𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 𝑇𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑙 𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒