I-81 Corridor Improvement Study Public Hearings Prepared Statement of David L. Foster, Chairman, RAIL Solution

I-81 Corridor Improvement Study Public Hearings Prepared Statement of David L. Foster, Chairman, RAIL Solution

October 25, 2018

Multimodalism – a Myth?

On May 10 of this year in this very room I appeared before you and made an earnest plea that the SB-971 I-81 Corridor Improvement Plan study have a multimodal scope. 

Before the public comment period began, Secretary Valentine prefaced the session by saying that she was going to withhold comments on what was said.  After I made a passionate plea for a multimodal approach to the I-81 study, she said, “I am going to break my own rules, and with the very first speaker!”  Then she went on to reassure me adamantly and affirmatively that the SB-971 study would very definitely have a multimodal focus.  “The bill does not preclude it, so we are going to do it,” she said.  As I stepped away from the podium, she quipped, “Now that was easy, wasn’t it, Mr. Foster?”

Was it?  We were dismayed to find the September 17, 2018 Corridor Improvement Plan Update contained not a shred of intermodalism.  It was totally focused on Interstate 81 the highway – truck climbing lanes, truck parking, truck messaging signs, truck tolls, extended exit and entry lanes, and 100 miles of widening, with no mention whatsoever of the potential for diverting through trucks to the railroad that parallels I-81 between Harrisburg, PA and Knoxville, TN.

While truck tolling has advantages and would likely divert some trucks from I-81, the 100 miles of proposed widening and many specific improvements for trucks, on balance, could easily make the route more attractive as a through truck route.  Should that be the case, billions of dollars will have been spent only to find that the heavy density of trucking is as much of a problem as ever on I-81. If you build it they will come!

An example is southbound I-81 between Ironto and Christiansburg where, to the best of my recollection, $70-some million was spent to add a truck climbing lane. Truckers don’t like the truck climbing lane because of the slow trucks in it, so they pass one another, using all three lanes up the mountain. Theoretically trucks are not allowed in the left lane, but this prohibition is not enforced and most of the time when I drive to the New River Valley, there is at least once when trucks clog all three lanes.

Heavy mid- to long-distance truck volume on I-81 will continue to be a problem and a chronic inconvenience to the driving public until a plan is developed to remove many of them. That can best be accomplished by ferrying trucks through Virginia by train.

Through Trucks on Trains – an Alternative?

A rigorous cost/benefit analysis needs to be made of life cycle investments in rail capacity versus highway widening. The September 17 report projects $3.3 billion for the limited capacity additions it recommends. That still leaves 200+ more miles of I-81 to be widened, so longer term the cost for a third lane could easily be $7 – 10 billion.  Adding a second track to the parallel rail line to facilitate the new capacity needed for a truck ferry operation would likely cost less.

Comparative environmental impact is also very relevant.  Railroad freight transportation uses only a third to a fourth of the fuel per ton-mile as over-the-road trucking.  Less fuel burned means less pollution created and lower greenhouse gas impact.  Diesel particulate pollution is also a health problem in the I-81 Corridor and can result in urban areas becoming non-attainment zones.

“The transportation sector is the largest end-use energy-consuming sector in the state.  Each gallon of petroleum fuel produces 19 pounds of carbon dioxide (CO2), and results in a total daily vehicle output of 123,500 tons of CO2 in Virginia. This makes transportation the largest source of CO2.” [2018 Virginia Energy Plan, p. 38].  

Railroad electrification can double its efficiency advantage over trucking.  While never mentioned in the 2018 Virginia Energy Plan, such an undertaking would certainly be fully consistent with the goal that “The Commonwealth should develop a comprehensive Virginia Transportation Electrification Action Plan.” [p.43] and would dwarf the electric vehicle energy saving targets outlined there.

Making it unnecessary for heavy through trucks to drive the I-81 Corridor could save more energy and prevent more pollution than any of the savings possibilities explored in the entire 2018 Virginia Energy Plan.

Virginia should issue an RFP for a thorough side-by-side analysis on the economic and environmental life-cycle costs of adding capacity on the highway versus on the railroad. This is the kind of thing the state’s academic institutions and transportation centers at Virginia Tech and UVA would be well suited to undertake.  In 2006 RAIL Solution proposed such a study in HB-1581, which passed the Virginia General Assembly unanimously but was not funded.  It is appended to this Statement as a suggested guideline.

Great reluctance typically has been exhibited in considering rail investment because the railroad is privately owned by Norfolk Southern and putting public funding toward a private enterprise is deemed controversial.  Nevertheless, as the September 17 report demonstrates, there is no similar reluctance to promote investments aiding the trucking industry, which is also privately owned.  

Citizen taxpayers already provide the construction and maintenance of excellent interstate highways used by truck operators while railroads build and maintain their own track and rights-of-way and pay property taxes on every mile. Exacerbating this imbalance, now special additions such as climbing lanes, truck message signs, and parking facilities are being promoted.  How does providing truck parking become a public responsibility?  Truckers can exit the highway and use privately-provided truck stops.

Tolls and Funding Options.

The September 17 I-81 Corridor Improvement Plan Update explores several funding options. Truck tolls are the fairest and most direct form of user charge. They can recoup the incremental costs heavy trucks do to bridges and pavement and help fund safety and operational improvements necessitated by heavy truck traffic.

Also considered in the September 17 report are differential fuel and sales taxes in the I-81 Corridor (PDCs 7 – 10). These are even less fair than tolling all vehicles on I-81 because of their sweeping applicability and failure to differentiate between users of I-81 and non-users.  All drivers (fuel taxes) and all citizens (sales taxes) would pay to help fund costly improvements to I-81 mostly of benefit to truckers, many of whom are simply passing through Virginia.  Lacking is any ethical or logical basis for imposing such tax burdens on western Virginia.

Concluding Observations.

The September 17 Update report is profoundly disappointing to many of us who felt assured that there would be a multimodal focus to the study.  No one would argue against safety improvements in the I-81 Corridor, nor that more accelerated incident management can benefit all drivers.  However, the proposal to impose widespread new taxes on citizens living in the Corridor and to target construction on improvements for truckers, is unacceptable.

The sensible approach to the problems afflicting I-81 would be removal of as many of the through trucks as possible.  Get them off the road altogether. That’s a far better strategy for everyone than spending ever more dollars to accommodate them better.

Appendix.

Getting trucks off I-81 is not a new idea.  My prepared statement submitted at the May 10, 2018 public hearing in Roanoke contains a more detailed history of initiatives aimed at assessing truck-to-rail diversion feasibility.  Frustrated by the failure of such studies to feature appropriate methodology and usable results, RAIL Solution drafted a straightforward scope of work in HB-1581, which was passed unanimously by the Virginia General Assembly in 2006.  It is still relevant today and is pasted below as a possible template for this still much-needed area of research.

CHAPTER 934

An Act to determine conditions necessary to divert truck freight from Interstate Route 81. 

[H 1581]  Approved May 18, 2006

Whereas, the General Assembly has determined that the transportation of freight and passengers by rail frequently provides a less expensive, safer, and more environmentally friendly and fuel efficient alternative to the construction of additional highway capacity; and

Whereas, the General Assembly has established the Interstate Route 81 Corridor Multistate Transportation Planning Initiative, potentially involving 13 states; and

Whereas, the Commonwealth of Virginia’s previously commissioned studies to evaluate the feasibility of diverting freight in the Interstate Route 81 Corridor to rail have been restricted to improvements inside the borders of Virginia only; and

Whereas, Interstate Route 81 has been found to be overutilized by commercial truck traffic, more than half of which consists of long-haul through-trucks beginning and ending their trips outside of Virginia; and

Whereas, a higher-speed dual-track railway would enable the diversion of a significant portion of the through-truck traffic from interstate highways to rail; and

Whereas, the 600-mile Interstate Route 81 Corridor between Knoxville, Tennessee, and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, may be a suitable market in which to deploy a modern, higher-speed intermodal concept using “roll on/roll off” technology in the United States; and

Whereas, if deemed feasible, such a rail operation has the potential to divert a higher percentage of truck-borne freight from Interstate Route 81 in Virginia than conventional intermodal rail concepts considered in earlier studies, and with the potential for adding other services such as passenger rail in the future; and

Whereas, there is a pressing public need to provide a mechanism for making improvements to the Commonwealth’s rail infrastructure that are clearly in the public interest; now, therefore,

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1.  § 1. That the Commonwealth of Virginia, through the Secretary of Transportation and the Rail Advisory Board, shall cause to have completed a comprehensive feasibility plan to define the conditions that would be necessary to divert the maximum amount feasible of the long-haul, through-truck freight traffic to intermodal rail in the Interstate Route 81 Corridor. 

Such a plan shall be completed as quickly as reasonably possible and the finished plan provided to the Governor, members of the General Assembly, and the public. The plan may be developed as part of a statewide multimodal freight study or other study conducted by the Rail Advisory Board, the Intermodal Office or the Virginia Department of Transportation. It shall include, but not be limited to, evaluation of the following with the objective of maximizing diversion potential to rail and minimizing future Interstate Route 81 highway capacity construction needs:

A. Operating Characteristics.

1. Utilize existing VDOT or Norfolk Southern Shenandoah line right-of-way wherever possible;

2. Extend at least 500 miles, creating or expanding logical termini in Tennessee and Pennsylvania or New York with at least one intermediate terminal in Virginia;

3. Utilize suitable “roll on/roll off” and other efficient rail technologies and service concepts;

4. Achieve truck-competitive transit times and reliability between terminals;

5. Consider alternative ownership, management, and service operational options and requirements; and

6. Consider the option of a new rail right-of-way from Front Royal to Culpeper to expedite more efficient use of the Norfolk Southern Piedmont line.

B. Financial Evaluation.

1. Capital cost of upgrading and construction for rail line as determined in subsection A as well as cost of terminals, rolling stock, and other equipment or infrastructure;

2. Operating cost for the level of rail service needed to achieve truck-competitive speed and reliability;

3. Include comparative return on investment analyses between the rail option(s) found to be most effective in meeting the performance criterion of 60% diversion rate for through-state freight to rail;

4. Evaluate project financing alternatives, including funds available through SAFETEA-LU, the Federal Railroad Administration’s $35 billion “Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing” loan program, public and private sector bond financing, and public-private partnership capital investment;

5. Include truck direct and indirect cost savings from using rail compared to over-the-road driving;

6. Include analysis of a full range of future fuel price scenarios, in determining potential diversion rates to rail, and the capability to meet debt service and operate profitably; and

7. Estimate the construction schedule for completing track upgrades and grade crossing separation, including but not limited to, the rail corridor from Front Royal to Manassas. 

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