Beyond Traffic National Freight Strategy
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In addition, we suggest that the next Plan should expand on certain critical aspects of transportation
identified in the draft Plan and in this Future Directions document. In particular, core subjects
described in the draft Plan, such as safety, the environment, advanced vehicles and the future of the
transportation network ought to be given even greater emphasis in the next Plan. This document also
highlights critical themes from the DOT’s Beyond Traffic framework released in 2017, the extensive
public engagement across the country as part of the "Beyond Traffic" Freight Economy roundtables, a
focus on future urban needs fostered by the Smart Cities challenge grant competition of 2016, and
outreach areas such as Every Day Counts (EDC) and Ladders of Opportunity that facilitate greater
efficiency and a more human face to freight transportation to improve the impact of freight
transportation projects and programs.
The following excerpt from the Executive Summary of the draft Plan framed the current context of
freight transportation in America:
“Our nation’s freight transportation system is a vast, complex network of almost seven million
miles of highways, local roads, railways, navigable waterways, airports, and pipelines. The
components of this network are linked to each other through thousands of seaports, airports,
and intermodal facilities. This system accommodates the movement of raw materials and
finished products from the entire spectrum of the agricultural, industrial, retail, and service
sectors of our economy. More than 3.1 million Americans are employed in operating and
supporting the millions of trucks, trains, aircraft, ships, and barges that traverse this network, as
well as in businesses that coordinate the logistics of these operations. Collectively, this
multimodal network directly supports 44 million jobs and affects the quality of life that every
American has come to rely on today. It is a critical force in the world’s largest economy, with
United States (U.S.) gross domestic product (GDP) estimated to be $17.4 trillion in 2015. Each
day, the system moves 55 million tons of goods, worth more than $49 billion; over the course
of a year, that amounts to 63 tons per person
Moving local, regional, national and global products safely, efficiently, reliably, and in an
environmentally-sustainable manner is critical to the continued growth and success of our nation’s
economy. Historically, we have been well served to meet these challenges by one of the world’s best
transportation systems. Freight is moved by private sector entities on infrastructure built and operated
by a mix of Federal, State, and local governmental agencies and private sector companies. The United
States has one of the lowest costs of transportation and logistics as a percent of Gross Domestic
Product in the world, providing the Nation with a competitive advantage in world commerce.
In the FAST Act, Congress identified ten goals pertaining to the National Multimodal Freight Policy,
many of which relate to support for the National Multimodal Freight Network and U.S. economic
competitiveness, including jobs and domestic industries. The multimodal policy of the FAST Act is
very similar to the National Freight Policy of MAP-21, although it is now explicitly multimodal and
has some additional provisions. The FAST Act specifies goals associated with this national policy
related to the condition, safety, security, efficiency, productivity, resiliency, and reliability of
multimodal freight transportation; improved flexibility of States to support multi-State corridor
planning and the creation of multi-State organizations to address multimodal freight connectivity; and