X. Intermodal Goods Movement
Rail
Passenger Planning
“The metropolitan transportation planning
process for a metropolitan area under this section shall provide for
consideration of projects and strategies that will-- increase the accessibility
and mobility options available to people and for freight; and ... enhance the
integration and connectivity of the transportation system, across and between modes,
for people and freight.”
23 U.S.C. 134(f)(1)(C) & (E)
he
Capital District region is strategically located to be a major gateway for rail
(passenger and freight), truck, air and waterway traffic between New England
and the rest of the US, as well as between the eastern Canadian provinces and
the eastern US. The British recognized
this strategic location in the Revolutionary War – hence the battle of
CDTC has had some noteworthy
dealings with the issue of international trade and the movements of goods and
freight. This is due partly because of
the Capital District’s strategic location in the Northeast, partly because of
the vision of NYSDOT Commissioner Boardman, and partly because of the innate
talents of the member communities. The
CDTC Policy Board also has the benefit of receiving insights from a variety of intermodal providers beyond the traditional highway/transit
venue: Capital District Transportation Authority (responsible for running the
Rensselaer Amtrak Station and the Saratoga Springs Amtrak Station), the Port of
Albany Commission, the New York State Thruway (parent body of the New York
State Canal Corporation) and the Albany Airport Commission. All of these bodies are voting members of the
Committee.
Before looking at CDTC’s
approach to passenger and freight issues, a brief look at the MPO’s
nontraditional voices is presented.
Figure
18: |
One of the major gateways to the Capital District is the
The
Authority consists of seven members, four appointed by the Majority Leader of
the Albany County Legislature and three by the
The controlled development of the land surrounding the Airport was (and still is) the subject of the Airport Generic EIS, through which mitigation fees are being assessed to control the rate of new commercial development and the impact on the transportation infrastructure (see the Land Use Considerations in Transportation Planning section of this report for more detail on this “best practice”.) In addition to the GEIS projects, CDTC has funded the airport cargo access TIP project, which required significant effort to get it designated as a NHS connector for federal eligibility.
The
The
Figure
19: Port of Albany 2002 Annual Report |
The
Security at
port facilities is receiving a rising lever of attention recently. All ports and terminals involved in
international trade are required to implement a Facilities Security Plan.[2] The Albany Port District Commission has filed
a Plan with the Coast Guard. In June
2005, the Planning Committee approved an amendment to the TIP for a project
entitled The Port of Albany Security Improvements. This project, funded with a $500,000 FHWA
earmark (Section 115 funds), is to help implement the improvements identified
in the Port’s Facility Security Plan.
Another
of the major gateways to the Capital District is the Amtrak service through the
Albany-Rensselaer Amtrak station (located in the City of
Figure
20: |
The CDTA directed the complete rebuilding
of the
As
noted earlier, we commend the CDTA for its leadership and courage at
undertaking these rail projects. CDTA’s enabling
legislation allows for the continuance, further development and improvement of
transportation (by railroad, omnibus, marine and air) and other related
services within the Capital District.
Until the Rensselaer Rail Station construction project, however, CDTA’s primary focus was the delivery of bus transit
services. Undertaking a unfamiliar
project of this magnitude was indeed courageous. .
New York State Canals
Figure
21: “Marriage of the Waters” |
“REVEST”
Next, we look at CDTC’s approach to considering passenger and goods movement
in its transportation planning process.
We begin with the REVEST effort.
A major element of the New Visions (1997) plan was the development of both passenger rail and intermodal freight movement in order to enhance economic growth and urban revitalization in the Capital Region. CDTC began a regional initiative to address flesh out this plan element, which culminated in the April 1998 document entitled The Capital Region of New York’s Regional Enterprise for a Vital Economy and Sustainable Transportation (REVEST).
Ultimately, nine projects were identified and started to be coordinated into this program. The objectives of the nine REVEST projects are as follows:
The nine REVEST projects are as follows:
Project
|
Location
|
Lead
Agency
|
Status
|
Amtrak
Station Replacement |
|
CDTA |
√ |
|
|
City |
|
Amtrak
Station Replacement |
|
CDTA |
√ |
Completion
of funding package for phase 1 high speed rail/double tracking |
|
NYSDOT |
Delayed due to Amtrak $ |
Relocation
of bus terminal in conjunction with development of an intermodal
facility |
|
City |
|
Albany/Rensselaer |
NYSDOT |
Delayed due to Amtrak $ |
|
Commuter
rail demonstration project |
|
CDTA |
|
|
|
City |
|
Scenic
Train |
|
CDTA |
|
Through various activities, funding has been identified
through a wide variety a different Federal/State and Local sources. The REVEST initiative is an excellent example
of CDTC as an MPO using its forum to promote regional cooperation by
identifying plans and projects that have similar goals and objectives that can
be coordinated into one program. As a
result of programming and implementation success, the REVEST working group has
been folded into the
CDTC’s Goods Movement Task Force
In the original New Visions development
process, CDTC established a Goods Movement Task Force that continues to operate
today. The Task Force brings together
private freight operators and public freight planners to share information on
local freight issues and events.
Membership includes
The Task Force will provided input to CDTC's New Visions 2030 plan and a planning project
in
We note that truck access issues occasionally arise during CDTC’s Linkage studies (see page 29 of this report). For example, the Albany County Commercial Transportation Access Study evaluated truck access within three neighborhoods of the I-787 corridor.
I-87
The I-87 Northway is the most heavily traveled corridor in the Capital
Region. The Northway, however, extends
far beyond the boundaries of the
Capital District. The I-87/Autoroute 15 corridor provides
a direct international connection between the largest metropolitan area in the
The 300-mile long I-87 corridor
has, until in recent times, been generally overlooked as a major international
trade corridor and it is not yet identified as a High Priority Corridor by
Congress. Within the Capital District, I-87
functions more as an arterial than an Interstate, as short distance commuter
trips on I-87 account for a considerable portion of the overall traffic within
the Capital Region. Ironically, the British had recognized this
corridor’s importance to the Northeast in 1777.
The opinion of the corridor’s importance, fortunately, has been changing
over the past six years.
In 1998, the Saratoga Economic Development
Corporation made an effort to identify 10 strategic business sectors and lay a
framework and funding strategy for coordinated efforts between
In 2002, Governor George Pataki and Quebec Premier Bernard Landry signed a Memorandum of Understanding to strengthen economic, scientific, and technological cooperation in the I-87 Albany/Montreal corridor.
NYSDOT
Commissioner Boardman has taken on the role as champion in examining both the
movement of freight and goods into and through
Figure 22: NYSDOT I-87
Study logo |
In 2003, NYSDOT undertook the
$2.5 million I-87 Multimodal Corridor Study to explore what efforts
should be taken to maintain the I-87 corridor as a viable key trade
corridor. This effort also is looking as
the role of rail, air service and waterways in handling transportation needs in
the corridor. The desired outcome of the
study is to provide a blue print of the major changes needed to accommodate the
future expected demand. For example, the
viability of high-speed rail between
The Champlain-Hudson Trade Corridor has been
renamed as the
In 1998, AMTRAK and the State of
NYSDOT is rebuilding older turbotrains to travel at speeds of 125 MPH in order to cut
travel time between NYC and
Figure 23.
ROHR Power Car. Six trainsets are being remanufactured under NYS’ high speed
rail program. |
The high-speed rail
initiative has struggled to date. Only
three of the originally planned seven remanufactured trainsets
have been delivered to Amtrak. Construction
of the second track between