Alameda Corridor CEE 587 March 30, 2011

The Problem Cities originally developed around ports, so our major port cities are also significant urban areas Ports are on the water Railroads head inland Historically rail lines terminated at the historic center of the urban region, leaving a gap between the rail lines and the port. The connection between rail infrastructure and port infrastructure is often very poor.

Solutions On-dock rail: some ports have extended the rail infrastructure and built rail lines to the port terminals Intermodal yards: some rail companies have built intermodal yards near port facilities Drayage: driving containers from the port to the railhead

BNSF and UP Railheads Ports of LA/LB

34,000 truck trips per day

One Solution in LA/LB

What is it? 20-mile-long rail line linking the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles to the transcontinental rail terminals near downtown Los Angeles built to provide a better rail access to the San Pedro port cluster The San Pedro port cluster handle about 70% of the American West Coast containerized traffic

Alameda Corridor a series of bridges, underpasses, overpasses and street improvements that separate rail freight circulation from local road circulation $2.4 billion dollars Eliminate 200 at-grade roadway crossings Railroads pay $15 for each loaded 20 ft equivalent unit (TEU) container, $4 for each empty container, and $8 for other types of loaded railcars, such as tankers and coal carriers. Hope to encourage a modal shift from truck to rail – reduce congestion

Number of Trains Running Through the Alameda Corridor per Year and Containers Handled by the San Pedro Port Cluster, 2002-2007 Source: http://www.acta.org/ and American Association of Port Authorities. http://www.aapa-ports.org/ Copyright © 1998-2007, Dr. Jean-Paul Rodrigue, Dept. of Economics & Geography, Hofstra University. For personal or classroom use ONLY. This material (including graphics) is not public domain and cannot be published, in whole or in part, in ANY form (printed or electronic) and on any media without consent. This includes conference presentations. Permission MUST be requested prior to use. 10

Demand was lower than anticipated The corridor has succeeded in meeting revenue projections not because they caused a modal shift but because port traffic has grown faster than anticipated No modal shift occurred although the corridor did improve rail service reliability (2-6 hours to 45 minutes) travel time

Why was demand lower than anticipated? Locally bound freight flows They could have anticipated this Relative transport costs Trucking industry rationalization Relocation of the bottleneck High intermodal costs Freight distribution centers

Lack of understanding of goods movement dynamics Many importers use distribution and handling facilities in the LA/LB region to rehandle goods before putting them on trains The assumption was that all goods that left the region on rail could simply be transferred without being handled If they understood the underlying economic choices they could have better predicted the use of the facility

Why are these goods handled? Inventory management strategies Transfer from marine containers to domestic containers Delay destination decisions Tagging, handling, packaging, etc. Factory based loading to store based loading

San Pedro Bay Port Container Distribution Source: http://www.trb.org/conferences/jointsummer/2006/ports/Session6Doherty.pdf Copyright © 1998-2007, Dr. Jean-Paul Rodrigue, Dept. of Economics & Geography, Hofstra University. For personal or classroom use ONLY. This material (including graphics) is not public domain and cannot be published, in whole or in part, in ANY form (printed or electronic) and on any media without consent. This includes conference presentations. Permission MUST be requested prior to use. 15