You probably have noticed that there are transportation problems in this country: Congestion in LA is a horrendous nightmare. Road rage is out of control in Miami. Bridges in Minneapolis are collapsing. And New York City is charging you a fee if you drive into the city (though this is a good thing, I swear). Point is, America knows she has problems with her transportation networks, she just doesn’t care. AMTRAK is so poorly underfunded and has been since it became nationalized in 1971. The Government gives the Federally owned AMTRAK less than $1 Billion per year; our friends in congress give the private flying industry over $14 Billion per year. Something is wrong with that, isn’t it?

Fortunately, things are changing. Two bills have been proposed and passed: HR 6003 and S. 294. Both bills have passed with a veto-proof majority, meaning that although former president George W. Bush had threatened to can the project, the president won’t be able to. Currently the bill is going into conference committee, which is the last step before President Barack Obama signs it–which he will, and must. These bills effectively shell out $14 Billion for new transportation mediums. One of the recipients will be right here at home, The Ohio Hub Project.

This project will give birth to the dreams of many homegrown Ohioans–a high-speed rail that travels through all the big C’s: Cincinnati, Columbus and Cleveland. Did you ever hear your grandparents talking about this one? (I know I have. They’d be sitting with the family, starry-eyed, dreaming of how glamorous and romantic it could be to just take the train from Cleveland to Columbus.) The plan will be to connect Ohio to already existing rails, going as far north as Ontario and as south as Southern Indiana. The proposal is for high-speed, 110 MPH trains that would make it possible to go from Cincy to Cleveland in 2.5 hours. By connecting the other rail lines in Pennsylvania, Indiana, Illinois and Michigan, it would be possible to get from Columbus to Chicago in 4 hours, from Pittsburgh to Indianapolis in 3.5 hours, and from Cleveland to Detroit in less than 2 hours. (Though this connectivity is part of a later phase).

Why is it so important that we switch to rail? The environmental impact of our cars is certainly nothing to sweep under the rug, but if self-interest is what sways your opinion, than consider that high-speed rail is safer than flying, easier than driving, cheaper than any alternative and is a perfect travel option for citycenter-to-citycenter business travel. Also, since 30% of flights don’t leave on time, an efficient and brand new rail line will be a hell of a lot more reliable than the failing airline industry.

The options are this–expand the highways, expand the runways or expand the railways. We are a growing country and we’re projected to have 404 million people by 2050; what are we gonna do with all of those people? How are we going to move them around? Certainly we’ve seen the failures of trying to run a country with “everyone has at least 1 car” city planning, and it’s blown up in our face: we’ve had more people die on our highways than we have in all of our wars–combined. Our country cannot continue to function like this. Support high-speed rail and any initiative that promotes improving transportation options. We cannot continue running in a race we admittedly would like to lose.

But first off, I’ll let let the US Department of Transportation give you a great understanding of specifically what Supply-Chain Management is, and the importance of reliable, efficient modes of transportation.

They did a pretty good job, huh? Hopefully that gives you a visual understanding of how the supply-chain works. However, the supply-chain is more than just different vehicles utilized to carry products–it is the entire process that begins with raw materials and ends with the product in the consumer’s hand. For a more formal definition:

Supply chain management (SCM) is the control of materials, information, and finances as they move in a process from supplier to manufacturer to wholesaler to retailer to consumer. Supply chain management involves coordinating and integrating these flows both within and among companies. The ultimate goal of any effective supply chain management system is to reduce inventory (with the assumption that products are available when needed).

So you see, the supply-chain is just not “boats-to-trucks-to-home”, it is the entire system in place that brings goods to people. It includes the inventory that sits on a shelf, the raw materials necessary to produce a single unit, the people required to coordinate the creation and transportation of a product, the financial data necessary to continue to produce a product, so on and so forth.

Focusing specifically on Freight Planning, there are many, MANY questions to consider:

• Is the current system working?
• Is the current system under/over utilized?
• Does the current system provide enough capacity to hold future freight loads in 2035?
• What are the environmental impacts of rail freight versus truck freight?
• What are the costs associated with rail, truck and ocean freight?

That is simply the beginning. Currently in North America more than 6,500,000 trucks travel on our highways. Due to linking rail and ocean freight, most trucks travel only within 50 miles of their base (although there are many outliers to this generalization). By 2035, however, this number is expected to dramatically increase, causing usage to balloon to over 600 million miles per day. Looking at the maps below, you can see where the increase in highway congestion will appear:

2035 Projected Map of Highway Congestion

Can you even see the states of Ohio, Ilinois, Indiana or Kentucky? This unfortunate truth gives us three options: we can expand the highways, expand the runways or expand the railways. I, along with the rest of sensible people, recommend expanding the railways.

CSX is one of the largest private rail companies in North America. Historically rail has been unreliable, hence the shift to relying on trucks instead. However, companies are recognizing that rail is CHEAP–like, real cheap. For example, a CSX Train can take one ton of goods 427 miles on a single gallon of gas. Is that not insane? As a private company, they are constantly seeking ways to improve, and since 1980 they have improved efficiency 80%. In addition, rail is not only the cheaper way to go–it is the more environmentally friendly way, too! Look at this graph on the difference in carbon emissions between a trailer traveling 1000 miles on a truck and a 1000 miles on a train:

Clearly, rail provides better financial outcomes and environmental stewardship. However, rail moves slower–and it isn’t as direct. It is impossible to route trains to be able to deliver all kinds of material right to your doorstep. That is without question. However, planning practices that support rail and provide for a larger system across our country would significantly reduce transportation costs for a company and cut out carbon emissions by a huge margin. In addition, AMTRAK could utilize the rails to provide better commuter service. And, if there is one thing about transportation, it is this–it goes hand-in-hand with economic development. Just as a coastal city cannot trade if there is no port to receive goods at, a city cannot grow without modes of transportation for people to utilize. It will become stagnant. It will lose it’s attractiveness and luster. It will, essentially, be Columbus.

Reduced Costs, High Environmental Stewardship, Better Transportation Options and less congestion on highways? And people argue against this?

Now you know why I’m going into the private sector and not into planning.