RECORD OF MEETING

FREIGHT TASK FORCE

DATE/TIME/PLACE: September 20, 1993; 3 PM; CDTC Offices

ATTENDANCE: George Macfarlane (UPS), Mary Phillips (Conrail), Steve Iachetta (Albany Airport), John Newman (John T. Newman Associates), Sy Syvertsen (CEG), Douglas Hughes (NYS Motor Truck Assn.), William Corp (Thruway), Chungchin Chen (CDRPC), Dick Carlson (NYSDOT Region 1), John Lemmerman (NYSDOT Commercial Transport Division), Gus Lapham (Hudson Valley AAA), Kristina Younger (CDTC)

DISCUSSION SUMMARY:

Minutes of Previous Meeting - No changes.

Status of Data Collection - THRUWAY: Additional Thruway data, excluding recreational vehicles (Classes 3,5,6,7), was offered by Dick Corp.

REEBIE DATA: Initial numbers look suspicious. Conrail agreed to look into the rail number. Recent Port reports will be consulted to confirm waterborne transport numbers. Additional analysis to be performed. The model of commodity flow within the region developed in the 1983 Commodity Flow Study by CDRPC should be consulted, also, to rationalize the Reebie Data. It was agreed that the analysis should remain at a broad brush level, focusing tons by mode, and commodities.

RAILROAD GRADE CROSSINGS: Inventories of railroad grade crossings have been obtained from NYSDOT and the FRA. The draft background paper included in the packet was discussed, with the clarification that the Section 130 program primarily upgrades the hardware at crossings, and generally does not deal with closures or eliminations. Conrail made the point that their priority is crossing on main line tracks. The line from Schenectady to Poekeepsie (sp?) will be upgraded as part of the project for high speed Amtrak service, and funded through fund sources dedicated to that purpose at the state and federal level. A discussion of closure policy and maintenance responsibilities also occurred. It was agreed that at smaller group meeting amongst Conrail, CP Rail, the B & M Railroad, and NYSDOT Region and Commercial Transport Division should occur to make sense of the voluminous inventory and discuss priorities and issues to bring back to the larger Task Force.

BUSINESS LOCATION DATA: The data on business location decision-making is sketchy. The Center for Economic Growth's work indicates that the primary growth industries in the Capital District are not those where transportation is the primary determining factor in location decision, although it can be important in specific cases. The Capital District's traditional role as a distribution center -- as opposed to a destination per se -- is likely to persist into the future and is a reasonable assumption.

ADDITIONAL DATA NEEDED: Highway clearance, load posting, and turning radii inventories are another important piece of information needed to establish priorities for future improvements. Documentation of designated truck routes would also be useful.

Metropolitan Transportation System Definition - After discussion of the materials included in the packet, it was concluded that the Task Force could best spend its efforts helping NYSDOT Commercial Transport Division with the inventory of facilities needed for the State Intermodal Management System. The general feeling was that the state IMS should be/would be comprehensive (not just motor carriers, but private fleets as well). The Metropolitan Transportation System intermodal component would most likely just need to reference the state IMS to include the needed facilities.

Draft Regional Transportation Plan Report - Kristina summarized the report, focusing the group's attention on the financial plan and the proposed performance measures for intermodal access. The Task Force would like to include a measure of the time INSIDE the TERMINAL itself. This lead to a discussion of project eligibilities (could we do anything about terminal delays even if we identified a problem?).

Congestion Management System - Kristina focused the groups attention on the principles included in the CMS.

ACTION ITEMS:

* NEXT MEETING: Monday, October 18, 1993, 3 - 5 P.M. AT the SELKIRK RAIL YARDS.

* Agenda to include: status of data gathering, project eligibilities under ISTEA, further discussion/definition of the relevant issues, beginning to draft the December conference paper

* Railroad grade crossing -- CP Rail, B & M, Conrail, NYSDOT and CDTC to meet to discuss

* Highway sufficiency data and truck route designations to be obtained by KEY from Bob Hansen/Jack Rob at NYSDOT Region 1.

* KEY to further analyze Reebie Data.

* John Lemmerman to work with Doug Hughes, John Newman, and others to complete the State Intermodal Management System inventory in a timely fashion. Dick Corp offered the Thruway accounts summary as a data source. This will be brought back to the Task Force when it is closer to completion.

* Kristina to work with the four major intermodal facilities to determine if a performance measure on terminal related delay time is feasible to gather.