Skip to main content

Currently Skimming:

Part 1 - Report of the Committee: Executive Summary
Pages 1-9

The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.


From page 1...
... PART 1 Report of the Committee
From page 3...
... The Transportation Research Board formed a Committee for a Study of Policy Options To Address Intermodal Freight Transportation to examine prospects for changes in programs to improve the efficiency of the freight system, and of intermodal freight in particular, in the light of recent experience. PRINCIPLES FOR GOVERNMENT INVOLVEMENT Governments are reexamining the scope of their involvement in freight transportation, investing in facilities not traditionally provided by the public sector (for example, intermodal freight terminals)
From page 4...
... The performance of completed projects should be systematically evaluated according to established guidelines. The appropriate framework for evaluating intermodal freight project proposals is to quantify their direct effects as transportation projects: expected changes in shipper and carrier costs, changes in external costs such as pollution and congestion, and effects on the location of economic activity.
From page 5...
... Existing federal programs intended to facilitate intermodal freight should be quantitatively evaluated, and future federal initiatives affecting freight should incorporate program evaluation. FEDERAL SURFACE TRANSPORTATION PROGRAMS AND FREIGHT The committee examined options for provisions of federal surface transportation programs aimed at improving intermodal freight efficiency.
From page 6...
... However, for most projects, a bottom-up approach, under which local governments and private parties develop proposals and seek federal government participation in them, has advantages. The federal government's most effective role in such projects, when they are outside the bounds of conventional federal surface transportation aid projects, would be as a provider of backup credit and as an absorber of risk rather than as a source of grants.
From page 7...
... The federal government should undertake research examining how the efficiency of information exchange in the freight system is affected by practices and requirements of government as a provider and purchaser of transportation services and as a regulator. Economic Regulation of Freight Transportation The federal government should examine how economic regulation of ocean and coastal shipping affects intermodal freight performance and use of port facilities.
From page 8...
... Innovative Mechanisms for Raising Capital and Operating Funds Innovative finance techniques, which provide attractive terms for private-sector partners, expand debt financing, and stimulate development of new revenue sources like special tax districts and tolls, have the potential to increase and accelerate funding of public-sector transportation projects. If Congress and the states wish to promote use of these arrangements, increased direct federal capitalization of infrastructure banks, changes in certain tax-exempt bond finance restrictions, and removal of state legal barriers to public-private joint development will be necessary.
From page 9...
... However, the rules should seek to avoid tax-exempt finance of projects that are unproductive or whose benefits are primarily local. The federal government should conduct research on the costs and distributional effects of alternative financing mechanisms for public works projects and on the relationship of financing arrangements to the performance of public intermodal projects.


This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More information on Chapter Skim is available.