This article was originally posted on December 30th, 2019.
Comments due February 10, 2020 on the NFSP. The request for comment includes specific questions about how the plan should address several industry and agency policy issues. Access the federal register request link here.
A Mountain-Plains Consortium (MPC) publication reported on a study titled Cognitive Underpinnings of Beliefs and Confidence in Beliefs about Fully Automated Vehicles which investigated the cognitive underpinnings of consumers’ beliefs and confidence in their beliefs about fully automated vehicles. Following previous research, opinions about self-driving cars tended to be mixed. The most negative views were held by consumers who had the least knowledge of self-driving cars. Low trust in technology was also associated with more negative views. Although consumers were generally confident in their views of self-driving cars, many were uninformed about them. Consumers’ confidence in their beliefs about self-driving cars was more strongly correlated with perceived knowledge and general confidence than real expertise. Thus, consumers’ confidence in their opinions about fully automated vehicles appears to be driven by largely superfluous cognition. A mediation analysis suggests that general self-confidence influences judgmental confidence by affecting perceived judgment relevant knowledge. Participants’ confidence in negative beliefs about fully automated vehicles suggests their opinions will not be easily influenced via persuasion. Direct experience with fully automated vehicles, rather than communication, may be necessary to convince skeptical consumers of merits of the technology. Read the research brief or view the full report at the Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute website.
–Ernie Perry, PhD: “This study provides insight to public concern and perception of new technologies and operations. On a broader level the same perceptions and issues will affect adoption of AV, CAV and platooning for freight vehicles, and may be more inflated with the public’s awareness and concern of large and heavier vehicles.”
The Mid-America Freight Coalition, in cooperation with the MAASTO Working Group on Automation and Platooning, has published its report, Developing a Regional Regulatory Approach to Truck Platooning in the MAASTO Region: A Literature Review of the History, Progress, and Benefits of Truck Platooning.
Download the Truck Platooning Report
This report provides an overview of the development of truck platooning and automation as well as the potential benefits from the implementation of truck platooning.
In an effort to establish a common or complementary set of regulations across the region, legislative actions developed in the MAASTO states that are designed to ease the adoption of this technology are examined. Nine areas of potential conflict between states and platooning regulations are identified across the MAASTO region.
The report concludes that the adoption of truck platooning is accelerating, but agencies and regulations may hinder this progress.
The overall goal is to develop a Midwest Truck Platooning Regulatory Model that provides for harmonization of regulations governing truck platooning across the MAASTO region.
A brochure is also available that gives a concise overview of the report’s findings in a graphical format. This brochure may be helpful in conversations with state legislators or other decision makers.
Three MAFC member states’ freight plans scored among the best in a recently release report from the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI), “Identifying State Freight Plan Best Practices.” Freight plans from Iowa, Michigan and Ohio were among a dozen freight plans selected by ATRI as exemplary in terms of planning, assessment, and implementation practices.
The goal of this report was to provide a baseline for freight plans as well as future guidance on best practices since these freight plans will need to be updated every five years in accordance with the FAST Act.
According to the report’s authors, “A well-designed freight plan allows a state or region to accurately understand the movement of goods within the larger geographic and economic framework, and speculate on future trends…Freight plans also provide an understanding of how safe, efficient, and productive freight systems benefit local and state economies and help meet local, regional, and national goals for safety and productivity.”
ATRI received nominations for 26 states. Freight plans were evaluated on 10 criteria coming out of both the FAST Act and MAP-21 freight plan requirements.
Each of the high-scoring freight plans provide good examples of specific best practices. Iowa’s plan has an excellent multi-modal network analysis. Michigan’s plan was commended for providing a step-by-step protocol for replicating its project list development data analysis, allowing others interested in replicating the quantitative analysis to move from the initial data extraction all the way to exporting tier-sorted projects. And, Ohio’s freight plan includes a narrative discussion of how freight impacts the quality of life for its citizens, framing freight investment as an investment in prosperity and quality of life for Ohio residents.
For access to the full report, please visit TruckingResearch.org.
The development of Freight planning has been reliant on the sharing of knowledge and practices across the states. Our region is fortunate to have such expertise to develop these freight planning approaches, and then share them across the region. For an earlier assessment of state freight planning across the MAASTO states, see the MAFC report: From the Ground Up – Aligning state freight plans.
The Mid-America Freight Coalition (MAFC) has released a report on the impact lock and dam closures along the Upper Mississippi River would have on the parallel highways based on the increased truck numbers required to move displaced agricultural products.
The Mississippi River is a critical corridor for transportation of agricultural products and, in turn, is critical to the economies of the states that utilize the river to transport these trade goods. Five of the MAFC region’s states are dependent on the Upper Mississippi River to move the majority of their agricultural products.
Movement through the Upper Mississippi is facilitated through locks and dams, all of which were constructed between the 1930’s and late 1950’s. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) estimates that there are over $1 billion in backlogged maintenance costs for these structures. Given the age and maintenance backlog, a failure at any of these facilities, especially the southernmost, would divert agricultural products to truck or rail.
The report assesses the total impact of such closures and then demonstrates how the cost the closures, or improvements designed to mitigate their impact on the highway side, compare with the cost of improving Upper Mississippi River control structures.
A new white paper from the Mid-America Freight Coalition (MAFC) demonstrates strategies that can help meet the growing demand for truck parking.
In many cities, demand for truck parking spaces exceeds supply. These shortages jeopardize public safety when truckers resort to parking on highway ramps and shoulders, parking in unsecure areas, or violating rules around maximum hours of service.
The white paper examines the potential value of vacant urban parcels of land for truck parking. MAFC researchers established a methodology to identify potential parcels and examine whether they are suitable for parking. In the cities studied, the authors found that affordable, accessible parcels are available.
The paper demonstrates that, when used in conjunction with other policies, adaption of urban sites could help reduce the frequency and severity of truck parking shortages.
The idea for the research leading up to this white paper stems from the Truck Parking Information and Management System (TPIMS) project spearheaded by the Mid America Association of State Transportation Officials (MAASTO). In response to concerns around truck parking, eight states – Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin – have joined together in developing a multi-state TPIMS. The project is funded through a $25 million TIGER grant and state funds.
The white paper can be downloaded from the MAFC website here.
Wisconsin’s marine freight system is a tremendous asset for both a strong economy as well as a healthy environment in the state. And research conducted through the National Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education (CFIRE) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is helping multiple organizations and agencies target priority projects as they create and implement plans for the state’s freight infrastructure and economic development.
Recently, the researchers in the initiative released the report, “Leveraging Our Comparative Advantage, Phase II: Identification and Development of Wisconsin Port Market Scenarios.” The study identified and compared four marine highway corridors on the Great Lakes and Upper Mississippi River with their parallel highway corridors.
Read the full article on the University of Wisconsin College of Engineering website: https://www.engr.wisc.edu/uw-madison-freight-researchers-helping-guide-state-marine-transportation/
MAFC Program Administrator, Ernest Perry, PhD, testified last week to members of the Assembly Transportation Committee for the State of Wisconsin in support of continued funding for the Harbor Assistance Program (HAP). In his statement, Perry emphasized a multiagency effort that has been taking place for over three years to to increase the freight and economic activity at Wisconsin ports. Wisconsin ports are responsible for the health of a large part of the state’s economy and will have an increasingly important role in the future. The support provided by HAP funds has been significant in providing tangible benefits to the state’s port infrastructure and will continue to be a much needed asset to ensure the sustainability of this important system moving forward.
Perry’s complete statement can be downloaded here.
In the study, “Leveraging Our Comparative Advantage, Phase II: Identification and Development of Wisconsin Port Market Scenarios,” CFIRE identifies four marine highway corridors and compares their feasibility, cost, and potential for mode diversion to parallel highway corridors. The corridors include three Great Lake corridors as well as the Mississippi River. In nearly every scenario, the marine corridors can offer lower cost service to Wisconsin shippers, businesses and industry.
The report can be downloaded here.
As directed by the FAST act, states and, in certain cases, Metropolitan Planning Organizations, are responsible for designating public roads as Critical Rural Freight Corridors (CRFCs) and Critical Urban Freight Corridors (CUFCs). The MAFC has completed a survey of member states for this purpose and continues to work with states to identify and share the best approaches for identifying CRFCs and CUFCs and other components of state and regional freight networks. The survey data is available for download here.
The Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act) directed the FHWA Administrator to establish a National Highway Freight Network to strategically direct Federal resources and policies toward improved performance of highway portions of the U.S. freight transportation system. Critical Rural Freight Corridors (CRFCs) are public roads not in urbanized areas that provide access and connection to the Primary Highway Freight System and the Interstate with other important ports, public transportation facilities, or other intermodal freight facilities. Critical Urban Freight Corridors (CUFCs) are public roads in urbanized areas which provide access and connection to these same facilities.