Estimation of the Full Marginal Costs of Port Related Truck Traffic

The New York city region is expected to grow by an additional 1 million people by 2020, which translates into roughly 70 million more tons of goods to be delivered annually. Due to lack of rail capacity, mainly trucks will haul this volume of freight, challenging an already much constrained highway network. What are the total costs associated with this additional traffic, in particular, congestion, safety and emission? Since a major source of this expected flow is the Port of New York–New Jersey (PNYNJ), this paper focuses on the estimation of the full marginal costs (FMC) of truck traffic resulting from the further expansion of the port's activities. The author concludes with a brief discussion of the use of alternative freight modes, mainly rail and barge. In NY, a new tunnel linking NJ with Manhattan has long been recognized as the key to increasing rail capacity, though to date, there is no consensus regarding if and when it will be built and who should pay for it. On the other hand, there are some initial plans to introduce barge service between the PNYNJ and the Camden-Philadelphia market. Although shippers may regard such service as inferior because of extended travel times, when considering barges' capacity, the barge service can substantially reduce the private and social costs associated with truck traffic.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/01497189
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Abstract reprinted with permission of Elsevier.
• Authors:
  • Berechman, Joseph
• Publication Date: 2009-11

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Appendices; Figures; Maps; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 390-396
• Serial:
  • Evaluation and Program Planning
  • Volume: 32
  • Issue Number: 4
  • Publisher: Pergamon Press, Incorporated
  • ISSN: 0149-7189
  • Serial URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/01497189

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Barges; Externalities; Freight transportation; Highway safety; Pollutants; Port capacity; Port congestion; Railroad transportation; Socioeconomic factors; Traffic congestion; Truck traffic; Urban areas; Vehicle capacity
• Uncontrolled Terms: Port expansion
• Geographic Terms: New Jersey; New York (State)
• Subject Areas: Economics; Freight Transportation; Highways; Marine Transportation; Operations and Traffic Management; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01148181
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jan 25 2010 8:08AM