(The following editorial by Maria Saporta was posted on the Atlanta Journal Constitution website on February 27.)
ATLANTA — The latest craze to help relieve traffic congestion in metro Atlanta is the idea of “truck-only toll lanes.”
But truck-only lanes already exist. They’re called railroads. There is no better way to haul freight over land than on trains.
Unfortunately, as state transportation leaders proceed with plans to improve metro Atlanta’s traffic problems, they appear to be focused almost entirely on road-based solutions. Plans call for expanding the number of highway lanes, which could be used as high-occupancy lanes, or “Lexus lanes” or truck-only lanes.
Again, before the right questions have been asked, the state appears to already have cast its answers in asphalt.
“Truck-only lanes is a significant priority of the department, both in the concept for I-75/575 and also statewide, particularly in metro Atlanta,” said David Spear, a spokesman for the Georgia Department of Transportation. “We are very confident that it has an application and a use in metro Atlanta.”
Let’s simply ask the question: In their efforts to reduce congestion, would metro Atlanta and the state get more bang for their buck by investing in rail, thus helping encourage the shift of freight from truck to trains?
Wick Moorman, the new chief executive of Norfolk Southern, recently told the Atlanta Rotary Club that railroads can help alleviate congestion.
“One intermodal train carries the equivalent of 300 trucks,” Moorman said. “That means less wear and tear on your highways.”
But that’s only the beginning of the advantages of rail. In a later interview, Moorman talked about how freight traffic already is shifting to rail.
“When you look at building additional capacity on railroads to move freight, it’s faster, it’s much less expensive, and it’s more environmentally friendly,” Moorman said. “If you look at the trucking industry, three things are going on that are really restricting its growth. There are driver shortages, especially for long-haul, there are the fuel costs, and the third thing is highway congestion.”
As intermodalism has become the preferred way to ship goods, there’s more of a partnership among railroads, trucking companies and steamship lines. One container can easily be transferred among the various modes of transportation. For example, a container from Europe can come into Savannah’s port, where it is placed on a train. Then, in Atlanta, that container can be transferred to a truck for the final leg of distribution.
As more containers are moved by rail, there will be fewer 18-wheelers on the highways, which everyone agrees can be a danger to cars on the same road. And compared with trucks, trains also save money on fuel and labor, while not contributing as much pollution to the environment.
Common sense would tell you that the state and federal governments would promote rail as sound public policy, rather than jumping on the truck-only-lane bandwagon. Alas, the opposite is true.
Tom McOwen, a trustee with the Cincinnati-Southern Railway, would love to see a whole new mind-set. He credits former Federal Railroad Administrator Gil Carmichael with advancing the idea of a national interstate system of high-speed rail. McOwen would love to see the first leg of a high-speed rail system between Cincinnati and Atlanta.
Unfortunately, governments are far more comfortable spending funds on roads and highways, which gives trucks an inherent advantage.
“The problem the railroads have is that they have to own and maintain their own rights of way, while trucks don’t,” McOwen said. “Let’s put some federal money into the rail infrastructure, and by doing that, you end up benefiting the highway infrastructure.”
Railroads are doing what they can to meet the growing demand for their mode of transportation. “Rail transportation is in high demand these days,” Moorman said. “We’re working very hard to increase capacity.”
He would embrace public-private partnerships to improve Norfolk Southern’s railbeds, which could include double-tracking some lines, fixing at-grade crossings and straightening out lines to allow higher speeds.
Such investment in rail could help further relieve traffic on our roads.
It’s not just a federal issue. Before building truck-only lanes, local and state agencies need to know that they’re making the best investment for the region.
The Atlanta Regional Commission is embarking on a freight study that is examining all modes of transportation.
“We have to understand what the truck movement is in Atlanta in order to facilitate the right solution,” said Jane Hayse, the ARC’s chief of transportation planning. “It’s important to know the types of movement that are happening via rail or truck to know whether some can be transferred to rail.”
But Hayse also acknowledges that truck-only lanes “are gathering a lot of heat.”
So metro Atlanta could be marching toward a solution that is not the best answer to our problem. And unless our leaders ask the right questions, we are bound to get the wrong answers.
“While it’s business for us, there are some real public benefits to rail,” Moorman said. “Our senior management can make the case of rail being part of the solution to this country’s transportation issues.”
But in order for that case to be made, leaders must be willing to open their ears and listen.