Upper Midwest Frieght Corridor Study
Principal Investigator:Kazuya Kawamura |
312-413-1269kazuya@uic.edu |
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Sponsors:
US DOT Pooled Fund (Ohio - lead, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin)
Participants:
Kazuya Kawamura (PI), Sue McNeil, Lisa Kramer, and George Zhu in collaboration with University of Wisconsin at Madison and University of Toledo
Status:
Ongoing
Objective:
The Upper Midwest serves as a critical corridor for domestic and international freight moving in all directions. It is projected that these freight movements will increase significantly in the future. Shifts in federal and public agency policy relative to infrastructure management and expansion, budgeting decisions and staff resource allocations have and will impact the safe and efficient movement of goods within the region. At the same time private sector interests insist on an equitable approach for all modes and allows industry to remain competitive in the region. Without proper collaboration and communication between the two sectors, and between the states and planning agencies of the region, the impacts of projected freight growth will pose an even greater challenge.
The objective of this study is to establish a regional approach for improving freight transportation in the Upper Midwest based on a multi-state, multi-jurisdictional partnership of public and private sector stakeholder interests.
Strategy:
Our strategy in the short term is to:
§ Compile and synthesize existing plans and efforts
§ Create a setting for coalition building
§ Identify and document the conditions and needs across all freight modes for the identified corridors in the region
§ Understand the market activities that generate goods for shipping that impact this region
The UTC team will focus on an analysis of usage in the corridor. Specifically we will:
§ Collect existing freight flow data from various sources.
§ Analyze the data collected from various sources.
