[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 112 (Friday, August 3, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1541-E1542]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            CONGESTION THREATENS U.S. TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. ROBERT A. BORSKI

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, August 2, 2001

  Mr. BORSKI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to alert my colleagues to the 
growing danger of gridlock in our transportation system.
  Many of the nation's major transportation corridors, both rail and 
highway, have become increasingly congested in recent years, to the 
point that congestion already threatens the ability of those modes to 
provide reliable transportation to the U.S. economy.
  Major metropolitan areas that are gateways for U.S. international 
trade, and hubs in the rail and highway systems, are thick with freight 
traffic as other vehicular traffic also increases.
  Increased international trade--expected to double in the next ten 
years--and continued growth in the domestic economy will further burden 
our rail and highway systems in the years ahead, with some question 
that, despite the best efforts and support of Congress, existing 
infrastructures in those modes can grow to meet those demands.
  Existing rail and highway infrastructure cannot handle all of the 
projected growth in container movements, and there are obvious limits 
to how much we can increase the capacity of interstates and rail lines. 
Major expansion of rail or highway infrastructure in corridors such as 
that along 1-95 on the U.S. East Coast has become both economically and 
physically difficult to do.
  In the coastal corridors a ``capacity crunch'is likely in this 
decade. Federal Highway Administration data indicates average annual 
increases in highway freight miles of 3 to 4 percent nationally in that 
period.
  For example, it has been estimated that by 2010 there will be an 
increase of 11,000 fortyfoot containers arriving each day on each 
coast. While rail may be able to handle approximately 1,000 such units, 
absent a viable waterborne option, the remaining 10,000 containers 
would have to be moved by truck. On 1-95, this would equate to an 
additional truck every 270 yards between Boston and Miami.
  As corridor densification increases so too will the cost to the 
economy in lost productivity. This is prompting transportation 
planners, shippers and transport operators to look for ways to relieve 
the pressure on moving freight (and passengers) in impacted regions. 
For the domestic transportation system to meet the needs of our economy 
in the 21st Century, we must maximize the efficiency of that system, 
including, where possible, increasing reliance on waterborne 
transportation to complement rail and highway systems. The potential 
options range from increased use of vessels to transport bulk materials 
to short or long haul intermodal shipping, including high-speed ferries 
such as are in wide use in Europe and Asia. As transportation agencies 
and the private sector focus more attention to this option, the federal 
government should look to means by which to eliminate the barriers to, 
or to create potential incentives for, development of this 
complementary means of moving freight and passengers.
  The waterborne option presently has unused capacity. Studies to date 
suggest that as vessel and cargo transfer technologies improve and new 
vessels come in to service, coastal shipping would be able to provide 
increasingly competitive service. Such vessels can be built in U.S. 
shipyards that now have the capacity to construct new designs and do it 
competitively. One such yard is the Kvaerner Shipyard in Philadelphia. 
In fact, a shift to the waterborne mode would foster a resurgence in 
Jones Act shipping and in the process create a new market for U.S. 
shipyards and American labor.
  The expanded use of the coastal waters for moving cargo has some 
obvious benefits:
  It would provide a measure of highway congestion relief,
  Some hazardous material movements could shift to coastal vessels,
  Vessels have the fewest accidental spills or collisions of all forms 
of transportation;
  The movement of trucks/containers on vessels could foster increased 
use of intelligent transportation technologies;
  Job growth would be stimulated in U.S. shipyards and on vessels;
  A healthier U.S.-flag industry assures a future supply of vessels and 
trained crews for military sealift missions.
  With few exceptions, the maritime sector largely has been left behind 
in Congressional and Administration attention to the transportation 
modes over the past decade. Policy innovations such as ISTEA, TEA-21 
and AIR-21 have served to prepare surface and air transportation for 
the demands of the next decades. The maritime sector is due the same in 
order for the national transportation system to meet the demands of the 
new century. Expanding the use of the waterborne option should be 
viewed as an enhancement of the nation's transportation system, 
responding to market demands for relief of congested rail and highway 
routes, and not as a matter of one mode competing against another. 
Coastal shipping will not supplant road and rail because of their 
inherent and respective advantages, e.g. speed of service and 
flexibility, but it can provide an essential element of new capacity 
with comparatively smaller investments of public capital.
  Analysis to date indicates that there are some likely barriers to an 
expansion of intermodal coastal shipping such as the harbor maintenance 
tax on domestic movements, thus requiring the attention of the next 
Administration and Congress. Likewise, incentives no doubt would 
facilitate private and public sector investments into establishing 
coastal corridor operations. It is our duty to do what we can to 
facilitate and foster coastwise shipping.

[[Page E1542]]



                          ____________________