Shifting freight to rails would save time, money, lungs

The people of Seattle need relief — relief from the ever-growing amount of time commuters spend in traffic and relief from the slow, stop-and-go traffic that causes cars and trucks to guzzle gas and spew even more intense air pollution. With rising gas prices this busy Fourth of July travel season, commuters are only spending more time and money sitting in traffic — and are looking for a solution.

Right now, the average Seattle driver spends roughly 192 hours per year commuting to work. However, gridlock in Seattle is actually just one symptom of a larger national problem; according to the U.S. Department of Transportation, freight traffic on roads across the U.S. will double by 2020 and car traffic will continue to increase.

However, there is some good news. America's traffic diagnosis need not be fatal. In fact, a remedy may be closer than many realize. For the past six years, I have studied the impact of increased traffic in our most congested urban areas and examined how attracting some of our nation's freight from trucks on the highway to trains could benefit commuters and their communities.

The solution is freight-rail partnerships with the trucking industry. Today, one of the fastest-growing segments of freight transport is intermodal shipping. Trucking companies place trailers and containers on trains for longer distances. A single intermodal freight train can take nearly 300 trucks off the road. Add in the fact that the Environmental Protection Agency estimates that for every ton mile, a typical truck shipment emits roughly three times more nitrogen oxide and particulates than a freight train. There is good reason for relying on freight rail more in the future.

In the Seattle area alone, shifting 25 percent of freight from trucks to trains by 2025 would mean 43 fewer hours in commuting time every year, compared with what is likely to occur otherwise. That same shift also would decrease air-pollutant emissions in the Seattle area by as much as 11,635 tons and save thousands of gallons of fuel.

Trains are remarkably fuel-efficient: On just 1 gallon of fuel, by calculation, one train can move 1 ton of freight 423 miles — that is farther than the distance between Seattle and Medford, Ore.!

But the benefits don't stop there. Shifting freight traffic from trucks to rail also would have a positive impact on commuters' pocketbooks. For example, by 2025, commuters in the Seattle area could save 91 gallons of fuel annually with a 25 percent shift. With average fuel prices today at more than $3 per gallon, the savings would be significant — an average of $920 in congestion costs per Seattle commuter every year, including the value of lost time.

However, in order to carry more freight, the rail industry will need more capacity. Members of Congress concerned about gridlock have introduced the Freight Rail Infrastructure Capacity Expansion Act to stimulate the infrastructure investment that would make it possible for freight railroads to handle substantially higher volumes of intermodal shipments.

The proposed legislation would provide transportation companies, including railroads, trucking companies and shipping lines, with a 25 percent tax credit to increase rail capacity. The credit would apply to infrastructure such as new track, intermodal facilities and state-of-the-art locomotives — all essential to positioning the rail industry to handle a larger market share of freight transport while continuing to provide on-time, quality service to shippers.

Freight rail is one prescription to help America better handle the surge in freight volume. In order to reap the benefits of freight rail for America's commuters, though, we must act now.

Wendell Cox has studied traffic and gridlock issues for more than 25 years. He is president and CEO of Demographia, a market research and urban policy consultancy based in Belleville, Ill.