Posted on 11/12/2007 3:31:55 PM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
INGLESIDE — A new way to move shipping containers might be tested in Ingleside as early as next year.
Stephen Roop, designer and assistant director of the Texas Transportation Institute, a research and development agency working with the Texas A&M University System, has developed a freight shuttle that would move a container from point A to point B on rails. The process would be automated and computerized, with the owner of the shuttle programming where the shuttle needs to take the container.
The concept is to alleviate congestion on highways and ship cargo more efficiently, Roop said. It was developed after engineers determined an underground freight system was too expensive.
"Our projection is that it will be economically viable and self-sustaining," Roop said. "It's not considered high-speed transport. We're not shooting for 150 or 200 miles per hour, but we are talking about uninterrupted highway speeds at a pretty low cost."
The shuttles are electrically powered, unmanned vehicles, designed to run on rails, most likely in highway medians. Shuttles would glide on specialized, derailment-proof rails as fast as 70 miles per hour in opposite directions on parallel rails on an automated control system. The electricity cost to operate a shuttle is estimated at about $.10 per mile.
A prototype, estimated at $15 million to $20 million, is being developed. A testing site for the prototype might be built in Ingleside, said Roop, who presented the project to port commissioners in October. A second presentation had not been scheduled as of Friday, but Roop expects to start testing in the second half of 2008.
He anticipates as much as 450 miles of guideway for the initial implementation of the project, which he estimates would be sometime in 2011. The system would accomplish the five goals of the Texas Department of Transportation: improve safety, improve air quality, reduce congestion, expand economic opportunity and increase the value of transportation assets, Roop said.
Those involved in the project envision it setting up along the proposed Trans-Texas Corridor 69, which would run from the Mexican border to the Canadian border [actually, it will run to the eastern edge of Texas --TSR]. Doug Booher, corridor environmental manager for the Texas Department of Transportation, said the highway would accommodate freight shuttles.
"(The corridor) is designed to be flexible," Booher said. "We're not only looking at transportation's present needs, but those 50 years from now."
Freight shuttles also would be an environmentally friendly solution to transporting large volumes of cargo, Roop said. Besides being efficient and zero-emission, the shuttles would alleviate highway congestion, which in turn would help prolong infrastructure.
One of the exciting aspects of the project is that the institute is looking at renewable energy to power the shuttles and the project has a good chance of being entirely dependent on renewable energy, Roop said.
There are more than 50,000 trucking companies and 850,000 trucks registered in Texas, with 10,000 being added in the past 10 years, said John Esparza, president of the Texas Motor Transportation Association.
Trucks are responsible for moving 65 percent of the cargo manufactured in the state, about 682 million tons of freight, according to transportation association, the American Trucking Association and the Texas Department of Transportation.
"More than 82 percent of the communities depend exclusively on trucks to move their products," Esparza said.
Esparza said the trucking industry supports the project because it allows trucking companies to buy shuttles and pay a fee to use the rails.
"Freight has quadrupled since about 1993 when (the North American Free Trade Agreement) came about," Esparza said. "This is not going to compete with the trucking industry, but provide options for trucking companies."
He added that trucks still would be needed to haul the containers from the port to the shuttles and from the shuttles to their final destination -- the market. Steamship companies, freight operators and third-party logistics firms also could own shuttles.
The low cost of the project is expected to keep the cost of products low for consumers.
Wrong, and wrong again. The railroad had all their system in place and refused as the have today to adapt to the times. Railroads may be cost effective on large bulk, but they are not efficient when it comes to time and distance. In short it was taking a train load of freight on the order of three weeks from the west coast to the east coast and that was just time on the train. You would spend another week are two getting the containers on and off the train. That was a few years ago but I don't think they have improved much.
I don’t believe the Teamsters ever represented railroad workers to any significant degree. I believe they are mostly represented by railway unions like locomotive engineers, and others. Maybe I’m wrong.
The ICC is now gone, replaced by the Surface Transportation Board (STB) who exercises minimal oversight to assure that railroading remains competitive.
Now the railroads, without the ICC are investing Billions in infrastructure and equipment. They are now able to price their services to reflect competition.
Railroads are competitive in time and cost with trucks over long distances. Ask UPS!
The ideal combination is railroads for the long distance and trucks for the “last mile.”
While you are waiting at the railroad crossing for 4 or 5 minutes, just think about it, that train has kept 200 trucks off of the Interstate you were just on.
Why should I ask ups, I know better. Show me a current study proving it, are better yet show me the produce containers shipped with fresh produce from California to new york.
Look for the containers that have refeers on them, riding on the railroad well car. Also look for all the climate controlled cars also on the railroads.
It there if you know what to look for.
BTTT
“Cant wait for all the hoopla when they decide this new railroad will have to be routed through someones backyard.”
The new TTCs 69 and 35 will go through an untold number of backyards.
This process is nothing new.
It might be much less likely to derail, but no system is failure proof. As long as these folks don't actually believe their own hype, things will probably work pretty well.
In big chunks of Texas, interstates don't have medians - they have concrete barriers.
But, no, they aren't talking about the interstates. The article does make clear they are talking about the TTC. "Those involved in the project envision it setting up along the proposed Trans-Texas Corridor 69"
Corridor 69? What an unfortunate choice of numbers.
OTOH, it’s a perfect statement of the relationship between the government and corporate interests in this project.
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