Tiêu chuẩn quốc tế

• Số hiệu / Standard Number: AASHTO WFT:2013
• Năm ban hành / Publication date: 2013
• Tình trạng / Status: A - Còn hiệu lực
• Tên tiếng Anh / Title in English: Waterborne Freight Transportation Bottom Line Report
• Số trang / Page: 114

Phạm vi áp dụng / Scope of standard

Executive Summary

From the initial settlement of North America, through
colonization and expansion, and to the present day, where and how
we live has been determined in large part by waterborne
transportation. Today, the United States relies on its Marine
Transportation System, or MTS, for access to global markets and
global products, and for domestic goods movement as an alternative
to congested surface transportation.

The MTS includes facilities on three coasts, the Great Lakes,
and the Inland Waterways; it serves every state, either directly by
water or indirectly via highway and rail connections; and it
supports trillions of dollars in U.S. economic activity annually.
The MTS evolved as a decentralized system comprised of many
different stakeholders and responsible entities, with funding
coming from a variety of public and private sources.

By many measures, the MTS is a great success; it has recovered
from the recent recession and is handling near-record freight
volumes. But looking forward, the MTS faces critical challenges:
decades of insufficient system maintenance, which have left many
parts of the MTS inoperable or on the brink of failure; excessive
delays in navigation project delivery; inadequate and unpredictable
funding for critically needed MTS improvements; lack of a national
strategy to ensure the MTS provides the greatest benefit to the
nation as a whole; and the fact that there is no locus of
responsibility for the well-being of the MTS, and its failure or
success.

To promote discussion and action, the American Association of
State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) commissioned
this Waterborne Freight Transportation report. The report
describes the nature, extent, and critical role of the MTS, and
offers a number of findings and conclusions for consideration, and
possibly adoption, by AASHTO and others.

The main finding is this: with respect to waterborne freight,
"business as usual" will lead to unacceptable further declines in
MTS condition and performance, and to significant lost
opportunities for our nation's economy. A renewed national
commitment to the MTS is urgently required, along with
corresponding changes in how to plan for and fund the MTS. Options
for change include: 1) federal legislation to achieve full
state-of-good-repair for MTS waterways, guarantee full utilization
of funds collected for MTS improvements, and significantly improve
the cost, speed, and reliability of MTS project delivery; 2) a new
Office of Multimodal Freight, under the Secretary of
Transportation, empowered and directed to eliminate the current
balkanization of MTS planning, funding, and project delivery
responsibilities, and advance sound planning and project
implementation; and 3) promotion of best practices in MTS planning
and investment at the state, regional, and local levels.

Water has been, and remains, a fundamental driving force in
shaping the physical and economic development of the United States.
Inland rivers and coastal routes were the continent's primary
transportation corridors, long before there were roads. Later,
improved harbors and canals were the nation's first improved
freight corridors. Settlement patterns and industrial development
naturally followed the coasts and waterways, because they provided
access to marine resources and offered the only economically viable
means of moving goods. Our first cities were port cities.