[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 163 (Wednesday, August 24, 1994)] [Unknown Section] [Page 0] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 94-20723] [[Page Unknown]] [Federal Register: August 24, 1994] ======================================================================= ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Office of the Secretary National Transportation System Initiative: Supplementary Information on Process and Criteria AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, DOT. ACTION: Request for comments. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: The Department of Transportation seeks comments on the process and criteria discussion papers for developing a National Transportation System (NTS). The information will be used to develop the Department's proposed criteria and process for identifying the National Transportation System. DATES: Comments must be received on or before September 30, 1994, to be fully considered in reviewing the proposed approach for conducting the Department's NTS initiative. ADDRESSES: Three copies of comments for the public docket on the NTS should be sent to: Office of the Secretary, Documentary Services Division C-55, Attn: NTS Public Docket #49617, Room 4107, 400 Seventh Street SW., Washington, D.C. 20590. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions on the NTS initiative can also be directed to the Departmental Offices designated as leads for the NTS outreach and planning initiatives: Mr. Michael P. Huerta, Associate Deputy Secretary, Room 10200, 400 Seventh Street SW., Washington, D.C. 20590, Ph: (202) 366-5781 Mr. Stephen Palmer, Assistant Secretary for Governmental Affairs, Room 10408, 400 Seventh Street SW., Washington, D.C. 20590, Ph: (202) 366- 4573 Mr. Frank Kruesi, Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy, Room 10228, 400 Seventh Street SW., Washington, D.C. 20590, Ph: (202) 366- 4450. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Transportation programs and administrative structures, combined with current shortcomings of information and analytic tools, can result in transportation decisions being made that do not meet national transportation needs effectively and efficiently. The NTS will delineate the most important elements of the transportation system in terms of their collective contribution to those national objectives in which transportation plays an important role--economic strength, environmental and resource conservation, community vitality and social welfare. It will include components from aviation, highways (initially, the National Highway System, as defined by Congress), railroads, ports and waterways, pipelines, and public transportation. The NTS outreach program seeks to involve private citizens, the business community, Congress, State and local officials, and interest groups to discuss all aspects of the NTS. These outreach activities will seek feedback on the process and criteria through which the initial NTS can be identified. Notice laying out the basic concept and framework for the NTS was published in the Federal Register on June 23, 1994. The following text builds upon and supplements that Notice with respect to the procedures to be followed and criteria to be used to identify the initial NTS. The August 22 deadline for docket comments on the NTS preliminary concept paper has been extended to September 30 to enable the Department to consider interrelated comments arising from the preliminary criteria and process papers. Part I. Process of System Identification Introduction The development of the National Transportation System is intended to be a cooperative effort of the U.S. Department of Transportation, State and local agencies, and the private sector. This paper outlines the Department's preliminary thinking about the process to be used for identifying the elements of the National Transportation System. Its purpose is to provide an early indication of the roles and responsibilities of the various groups and to solicit comments about the process. A related brochure, ``The National Transportation System: A Framework for Strategic Transportation Development,'' describes the concept of the National Transportation System, its purpose and use. Development of Criteria The U.S. Department of Transportation is exploring various possible criteria for the selection of elements to be included in the National Transportation System. Based on the comments of outreach participants, the U.S. Department of Transportation will refine the process and develop a preliminary set of criteria. Comments responding to the preliminary criteria, as published, will be considered in the development of final criteria. The criteria will be a set of measures and guidelines for identifying whether a facility or other transportation element should be included in the National Transportation System. All modes of passenger and freight transportation will be covered in the criteria. Criteria will also include any other applicable requirements, such as inclusion in State and/or metropolitan transportation plans and improvement programs. Preliminary Identification of the National Transportation System The U.S. Department of Transportation will use the final criteria to make a preliminary selection of the transportation elements to be included in the National Transportation System. This will generally be accomplished using information the Department already has available. In some cases, such as urban transit, the preliminary identification of facilities and/or services to be included in the National Transportation System may need to be made in consultation with State and local agencies. The criteria and results of this preliminary identification process will be distributed in January 1995 to State and local agencies, private service providers, and trade associations. Information to be provided will include a physical description of each element and the travel activity associated with that element. Private providers, the States, and local agencies working through the States, will be asked to comment on the elements selected and whether any additions or deletions should be made. Of particular interest will be additions to the initial system which address criteria such as connectivity, national coverage, and international trade. In addition, agencies will be requested to correct any inaccuracies and provide additional data on the physical features of the transportation elements, travel activity, and the conditions and performance of the element. The comment period will be 90 days. Final Identification of the National Transportation System The U.S. Department of Transportation will analyze and evaluate the information that is submitted by State and local agencies and private providers. Based on this analysis, modifications will be made to the preliminary National Transportation System selections, in consultation with the States, local agencies and private sector. In addition, the data will be used to build a more complete and accurate database describing the system, its use and performance. The Department will undertake discussions to try to resolve any differences between the transportation elements identified by the Department and the submissions. Preparation of Maps and Final Report The initial National Transportation System will be illustrated in a series of maps that will display all elements of the system. The maps will be prepared from a database developed by the U.S. Department of Transportation and supplemented by the submissions of the State and local agencies and private providers. The database will be made available in digital format for use in conjunction with geographic information systems (GIS) software. The maps will be published in both paper form and on CD-ROM. The maps and the report accompanying them will be completed by September 1995 and will contain information on the physical description, usage, and, to the extent possible, condition and performance of the system. It will also contain recommendations on Federal policies and action related to the system. In addition, the National Transportation System process will provide the basis for the development of legislative proposals designed to promote and implement an integrated, intermodal transportation system. Updating the National Transportation System The initial National Transportation System process is to be completed towards the end of 1995. This will be the first step in a continuing effort. The National Transportation System is intended to serve as a tool to develop national transportation policy and legislation and, therefore, it is essential that it be kept current and relevant. Thus, the initial National Transportation System will evolve to reflect changes in demographics, economic conditions, system performance, technology, and social and environmental impacts. In later stages, the system will be updated, additional information on conditions and performance will be included, and new analytical capabilities will be developed. Part II. Criteria for Identifying the NTS This paper sets forth potential methodologies for the identification and selection of facilities to constitute the National Transportation System (NTS). With that objective, we are examining various approaches to measuring systematically the impact of airports, highways, rail lines, transit systems, waterways, ports, and pipelines. This paper should not be construed to represent decisions on criteria for identifying the NTS. Rather, it is intended to generate discussion on what the criteria should be. We expect to refine and revise the NTS inclusion criteria based on the information and insight we gain from NTS public meetings, written comments, and the on-going multimodal planning process established by ISTEA. We welcome comments and suggestions from State and local officials, the transportation industry, and the public at large on every aspect. The NTS is intended to allow the development of transportation planning, program management and investment strategies which will enhance our transportation system to move people and goods more effectively and efficiently, thereby advancing our economic, environmental and social goals. We believe that the NTS will provide us with an integrated system perspective that identifies the most strategic and effective uses of the resources available for transportation investment. Because we are always working with scarce resources, it is particularly important that we employ the kind of careful targeting of investments which the NTS can help us accomplish. Since some familiarity with the broader context of the NTS is presumed, this paper should be read and considered in concert with the more general brochure describing the NTS. The identification process will take place in at least two phases. The first step will be to identify physical facilities for inclusion in the initial NTS. In this phase, we will focus in large part on service- level information. Service measures provide direct evidence, though by no means the only evidence, of whether particular facilities play a special national role. One of the major purposes of the NTS is to develop better information about how various transportation components function as part of the total system. Having initially identified the NTS, we plan to build upon that structure by collecting better information on how the system functions. That information will be used to analyze and modify the initial NTS. General Framework Workable selection criteria for the NTS are needed for two reasons. One is purely practical. It just isn't feasible to catalogue and include every transportation facility nationwide in the data bases and system models which will become part of the NTS. If we include too much, the NTS will be expensive to map and unwieldy to use; if we include too little, we may miss significant interconnections and lose sight of important information. In attempting to achieve the right balance, we are seeking the advice of the transportation community and its users. Second, such criteria are required to ensure that the NTS is truly national in nature. The focus should be on which transportation facilities and outputs are most essential to achieving national objectives. Transportation facilities at once function as components of multiple ``systems''--local, regional and national. State and local planning entities are engaged in identifying transportation facilities which are essential at the State and local levels. These facilities, central to achieving economic, social and mobility goals, will require continued investment by all levels of government and the private sector. Some of these will be a part of the NTS, but others may not be included in the NTS because they are not of sufficient national significance. Selecting Criteria Activity Measures There are several ways to approach the task of defining nationally significant facilities. One option would be to designate transportation facilities as part of the NTS primarily on the basis of the volume of traffic they handle--for example, passengers or freight tonnage carried on a transit or rail system, vehicles using a highway, or barrels of crude oil transported by a given pipeline. Such ``activity level'' criteria have some advantages:availability: information on traffic volume is widely available. measurability: given data and modeling limitations, usage is at least a uniform yardstick. significance: the volume of use is a reasonably accurate indicator of the direct economic impact of a given facility--again, given data limitations. Functional Factors Activity measures don't tell the whole story, however. Some transportation facilities may provide critical links between modes or regions, essential services in terms of defense or emergency readiness, or other important economic, environmental, safety or social benefits that are not reflected in a simple traffic count. Clearly, these considerations need to be taken into account in identifying the NTS. What is the best way to incorporate these various factors? The social role of transportation facilities might properly be reflected in a variety of criteria for inclusion. One such approach would be to give special consideration to facilities and routes serving areas where the population has comparatively limited access to automobiles, is relatively immobile, or includes a higher proportion of seniors or the disabled. Safety and environmental considerations might weigh in favor of modes or facilities whose use results in fewer accidents or which yield less pollution--which both have attendant social and economic costs. In addition to traffic volume, which as indicated above, is an important measure of economic impact and, generally, of a facility's environmental effects, we suggest that defense and emergency preparedness, and system linkage across modes or across regions are factors which can be identified and should be weighed. We may find workable proxies for meeting social objectives such as safety, mobility and accessibility as well. There may be ways to approximate the connectivity function, for example, by identifying the percentage of population or economic activity within a given distance or travel time to a facility. Some non-volume criteria will affect the composition of the initial NTS: for example, border crossings and important ports of entry may be included on the basis of their role in international trade. This process will accelerate as the NTS grows. With experience and additional data, we hope to be able to incorporate measures of more complex and subtle factors reflecting social and community viability. We welcome suggestions on ways to assess these factors, and on ways to quantify any other factors that commenters believe should be taken into consideration in defining the elements of the NTS. Temporal Considerations There is at least one other difficult aspect of the criteria question: how should the NTS deal with the future, i.e., with anticipated or planned facilities or actions? The NTS is intended to be forward-looking: that is, it should help us determine what actions need to be taken to make transportation function better. Thus, the NTS needs to be able to accommodate prospectively new additions to the system. In some instances these may involve technologies--for example, high speed rail and intelligent vehicle highway systems--that are not yet operational. The process needs to be realistic, however. The NTS cannot incorporate every idea for a transportation improvement, regardless of the likelihood that it would ever be built or implemented. In light of this, how do we select system additions that are ``real,'' in the sense of having an acceptable likelihood of implementation? Would it be useful to specify a planning horizon for the NTS? Should existing and planned facilities be treated as separable parts of the NTS? There may be legislative, planning or funding milestones or thresholds that will help address these questions. For example, we are considering a requirement that an unbuilt facility be a part of a State Transportation Improvement Program to be eligible for inclusion in the NTS. How would anticipated private sector improvements be treated? Setting Intermodal NTS Criteria One of the major goals of the NTS is to promote efficient and effective intermodal transportation. At present, however, it is difficult to use identical criteria to evaluate facilities across modes. In large part, this is attributable to data limitations. Ideally, the criteria would measure transportation impacts on a variety of important objectives without regard to mode. Realistically, we do not have good measures of the direct regional or national impact of transportation on many economic, environmental and social goals, and those that we do have are modally-based. Under the leadership of the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, the Department has begun to plan and to implement improved data collection. Efforts are under way to collect multimodal national and interregional freight and passenger data. The NTS will help spur and guide continued efforts in this direction and the data will be helpful in refining the NTS. Notwithstanding these constraints, NTS criteria need to have some internal consistency if the NTS is to become a productive analytical tool and not just an inventory of unrelated parts. All components of the NTS, urban or rural, public or private, should have a clear, systematic relationship to the overall national transportation network and make a significant contribution to meeting the nation's transportation needs. In the examples that follow, we have attempted to achieve some rough comparability in terms of activity data, but these need to be further refined to reflect economic impact. To do this, it would be useful to have the passenger and freight flow data from the planned surveys mentioned earlier. With this data, we could assess the distribution and value of passenger and freight flows, but the survey data will not be available in time for the initial identification of the NTS. In the interim, we plan to examine the feasibility of using available transportation expenditure, commodity and activity data to approximate better the impact on the economy of various transportation facilities. Are there other data which could be used to achieve more meaningful intermodal consistency? In light of data limitations and unresolved questions about methodologies for recognizing non-volume social factors, our initial approach to criteria focuses on volume measures. But how can we best select a volume threshold for inclusion in the NTS? Analysts seeking to select proper thresholds often look for natural, real-world ``break-points'' in the data, for example, the point along the traffic activity curve where traffic begins to drop off more sharply. Applying that kind of general rule across the modes facilitates identification of the most heavily used facilities in each mode, notwithstanding the differences among their traffic patterns. (Some modes have more concentrated traffic patterns, while others are more dispersed; no two are identical.) Sometimes there are several possible break-points, and we will need to decide how much of each system to include in the NTS. In some cases, workable selection guidelines may already exist. For example, the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA) states that ``the National Intermodal Transportation System shall include a National Highway System . . .'' Thus, the National Highway System, now before Congress for final approval, would properly comprise the highway portion of the initial NTS network. It may also be useful to consider a staged selection process. For example, the NTS could be defined to include, first, transportation systems Congress has designated as having national importance; second, the major facilities that handle a substantial proportion of the traffic in each mode, as measured by a variety of pertinent activity statistics; and third, other facilities that can be shown to have significant, measurable social or economic impacts--e.g., on environmental quality, safety, defense and emergency readiness, national system linkage, or other important national objectives. Potential Criteria The following examples of criteria and threshold levels for identifying facilities for the initial NTS are offered to illustrate how criteria might be applied. They do not represent specific options or ranges for these values. The criteria and threshold levels applied may be entirely different from those illustrated in the examples, depending on the comments we receive and on further analysis. Highways Pending Congressional approval, the National Highway System (NHS) will incorporate the strategic highway network, ISTEA high priority corridors, selected principal arterials, and intermodal connectors: approximately 159,000 miles of highway designated by Congress as having national importance. This is about four percent of the four million miles of public roads in the U.S. and about one-sixth of the 953,000 miles eligible for Federal aid under ISTEA. This network carries over 40 percent of the passenger vehicle miles traveled in the United States, and 70 percent of the commercial truck miles. It includes not only the high activity routes, but highways that are essential for national defense and emergency preparedness, as well as connecting routes that link the national system together, thus reflecting several of the non-volume factors discussed above. The last phase of the designation of the NHS will be to identify intermodal connectors. This activity will be undertaken in concert with the NTS identification process since the objectives of these activities are closely related. The character of the NHS--which encompasses a relatively small number of facilities which service a very large proportion of the traffic (especially freight traffic), while also providing connectivity and emergency readiness--supplies one model for consideration in the criteria development process. Aviation Federal Airways Aviation's primary system niche is in long distance and international transportation. Navigation aids, including the air route traffic control centers and principal navigation aids, form an ``airways'' system which is essential to the operation of aviation service. The rationale for inclusion is underscored by the fact that the air route traffic control centers and navigation aids which together comprise the airways system are already Federally-operated. Airports This component of the aviation system presents a bigger challenge because there are substantial variations in the amount and character of airports' use. Air travel is highly concentrated. The top 50 airports handle more than 80 percent of all passenger enplanements in the U.S.; and the top 150 airports account for more than 95 percent of total traffic. Adding airports that handle a large volume of cargo operations, or those with a high level of unscheduled general aviation operations, might provide a more complete picture of the air system as a whole. How inclusive should the NTS be? Two illustrative possibilities are: (1) Commercial airports with more than 2.5 million passenger enplanements per year, and cargo airports with more than 500,000 tons of landed cargo aircraft weight: 56 airports in total. These facilities represent less than one percent of the number of airports open to the public in the country and about 10 percent of commercial service airports. Together, however, they serve 81 percent of enplaned passengers, 87 percent of landed cargo aircraft weight, and 14 percent of general aviation itinerant operations at FAA-towered airports. (2) Commercial airports with more than 250,000 passenger enplanements per year (including all U.S. airports with scheduled international service), cargo airports with more than 50,000 tons of landed cargo aircraft weight, and FAA-towered airports with more than 100,000 general aviation itinerant operations per year: 187 airports in total. Together, these airports account for 97 percent of total enplaned passengers, 99 percent of landed aircraft weight at cargo airports and 56 percent of itinerant general aviation operations at FAA-towered airports. The 187 facilities represent 3.3 percent of airports open to the public in the nation and about 34 percent of commercial service airports. But all U.S. airports with scheduled international service are included. Intercity Bus While the intercity bus industry provides mobility for residents of rural and small urban areas, criteria development for this element of the national system is complicated by the absence of detailed ridership data. Given the circumstances, one possible approach would be to focus on population served by bus facilities. For example, the NTS might include all intercity bus terminals in urbanized areas of 100,000 or more. Based on a ten-year old, joint DOT/ICC study of intercity bus terminals, that would amount to about 500 terminals serving about 60 percent of all intercity bus users, including riders traveling to metropolitan areas from isolated rural communities. Of course, it may be worthwhile to consider other population thresholds or criteria. Is this a workable way to identify intercity bus terminals, or are data available which would allow a better approach? Transit Transit systems play an important role in meeting a variety of national objectives. They are essential to the economic, social, and cultural roles of our urban areas. They serve economic and systemic functions by contributing to reduced highway congestion and air pollution, and increased highway safety and energy savings. Transit systems also serve a social function by providing basic mobility, particularly to those without access to an automobile. The types of transit facilities included in the NTS should reflect all of these multiple objectives and roles. Passenger volume-based criteria can serve to reflect transit's economic importance. For example, the NTS could reasonably include all urban rail transit lines (commuter rail, rapid rail, and light rail), including supporting facilities, as well as those transit bus routes (and related supporting facilities) serving substantial ridership--such as, more than 5,000 passengers per day. This test would result in the inclusion in the NTS of approximately 6,500 rail route miles and 11,000 bus route miles (representing 7 percent of total bus route miles). These routes and facilities carry a total of 5.1 billion passengers per year (67 percent of total transit passengers) and 27 billion passenger miles per year (72 percent of total transit passenger miles). Does the proposed threshold reach those lines and systems which are most important from an economic perspective? While passenger volumes reflect transit's economic and urban linkage functions, they are probably an inadequate measure of the social role which transit plays, e.g., transportation for the disadvantaged. But, as indicated above, determining the extent to which specific transit facilities and routes serve significant social functions is fairly difficult, at present. Railroads Freight Rail Systems Freight rail systems play critical roles in the nation's transportation system. The privately-owned and operated rail freight system carries nearly 40 percent of total U.S. freight traffic, measured in ton-miles; many rail lines are also important for purposes of national defense and emergency readiness. It may be useful to apply a combination of several criteria, using national defense, system linkage, and other factors as well as traffic volume to determine the freight line component. Two examples are: (1) Rail lines with freight activity in excess of 5 million gross tons per year, rail lines in the defense-related strategic corridor network, and connecting lines for national system linkage. This package would account for 49 percent of total route miles in the U.S., and 95 percent of the nation's total freight revenue ton-miles. (2) Rail lines with freight activity in excess of 20 million gross tons per year, rail lines in the defense-related strategic corridor network, and connecting lines for national system linkage. This option would represent 34 percent of total route miles in the U.S., and 86 percent of the nation's total railroad revenue ton-miles. Passenger Rail System Amtrak, the country's rail passenger network, provides transportation links between major cities and to all regions of the country, including rural areas that may have no other form of public transportation. The current system consists of 24,000 route miles and 540 stations. What is the appropriate threshold for the NTS in this case? Certain routes on the east and west coasts and in the upper midwest have passenger volumes that are much heavier than many other routes on which usage is lighter and/or more seasonal. Do current or future usage patterns provide a structure for identifying the Amtrak routes and facilities most important to the country? For example, routes which carry 70-80% of Amtrak's annual ridership might be included in a national system. Amtrak Stations Data on station usage--examples of which appear below--provide information that would appear to be useful in identifying the appropriate stations for inclusion in the initial NTS. What level of passenger activity would be most appropriate for selecting stations for inclusion in the NTS? Are there other data that would be useful in this regard? 48 of Amtrak's 540 stations serve two-thirds of the passengers; 75 percent of Amtrak traffic is handled at 86 stations; and 63 stations (handling at least 100,000 passengers annually) account for more than 70 percent of the total traffic; Water Transport Water transport is significant for economic and defense reasons. The marine transport industry carries over 1.9 billion metric tons of materials, parts and consumer items in domestic and foreign commerce. Further, a number of the facilities used by this industry play a role in strategic defense. Ports and Harbors U.S. deep draft ports are critical links, not only in support of our foreign commerce (amounting to about 950 million metric tons annually), but also in support of trade to the non-contiguous States and Territories (over 250 million metric tons annually), as well as intracoastal and coastwise traffic. The 1,205 miles of Congressionally- designated channels and canals created by dredging, widening and canalization form an extensive network that provides deep draft shipping lanes. A tax on the value of goods moving through these channels and ports is paid into the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund, which the Corps of Engineers uses for maintenance dredging. There are 355 ports in the United States handling cargo at some 4,000 terminals within these ports. As in airports, traffic is concentrated. One hundred and fifty of those ports--42 percent of the total--account for 99 percent of the cargo tonnage. And like rail lines, some ports also have strategic defense significance, which should also be considered in defining the maritime port components of the NTS. Finally, the Louisiana Off Shore Oil Port (``LOOP'') may be nationally significant for reasons of energy production and economic impact. How many ports--including the improved channel and canals needed to connect those ports to the deep draft sea lanes--should the NTS encompass? Two examples emphasizing traffic measures might be: (1) Twenty-nine ports handling at least eighteen million metric tons of cargo per year account for nearly 70 percent of total waterborne cargo. (2) At an alternative level of concentration, 80 percent of total waterborne cargo is handled at 45 ports. Adding two ports to this number provides 80 percent coverage for foreign cargo handled, as well. Inland and Intracoastal Waterways There are 25,000 miles of navigable waterways within the United States. Congress has declared 10,600 miles--about 40 percent of the total--to be major inland waterways subject to fuel taxes and maintained by the Army Corps of Engineers. This Congressionally-defined system consists of 168 lock sites, as well as dams and other improvements. Its chief role is providing low-cost shipping of commodities (563 million metric tons of coal, grain, etc.). The arterial segments--accounting for more than 90 percent of U.S. domestic waterborne traffic ton-miles--are commonly known as ``fuel tax'' waterways because barge operators and other users pay fuel taxes under the Inland Waterways Revenue Act of 1978 and the Water Resources Development Act of 1986. In addition, the Great Lakes and connecting channels and locks total 2,000 miles of interstate and foreign commerce routes. Dedicated Great Lakes vessels haul 97.4 million metric tons of goods basic to midwest industry and provide ports as far west as Chicago with access to global markets through the St. Lawrence Seaway. In 1992, 2,642 vessel transits were made of the St. Lawrence Seaway, moving, a total of 32.7 million metric tons of cargo. While Congress has designated a 10,600 mile inland waterway system to be subject to the waterways fuel tax, some other set of waterways may be appropriate for the NTS. One approach is suggested by the fact that just over one-half of the Congressionally-designated system handles about 97 percent of the total ton-mile freight volume on the system. The major facilities on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway, together with some set of inland waterways, would constitute the waterway component of the NTS. Pipelines Petroleum pipelines account for 53 percent of all the crude oil and petroleum products carried in the domestic U.S. transportation system-- about 17.5 million barrels per day. Natural gas pipelines deliver approximately 46.1 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day, serving more than 55 million customers. While it is not feasible to include all of the field, gathering, and distribution pipelines, the major interstate and long-distance oil and gas pipelines clearly are a critical part of our national transportation system by virtue of their significance in energy transportation. One possibility is as follows: Petroleum Pipelines Interstate crude pipelines--58,000 miles Interstate product pipelines--88,000 miles Interstate crude trunk lines (12 inches in diameter, on average) represent about 29 percent of total mileage. Interstate product trunk lines (of widely varying diameter) account for about 43 percent of total mileage. Natural Gas Pipelines Transmission--interstate--275,000 miles Long distance transmission lines between 24 to 36 inches in diameter represent approximately 29 percent of total gas pipeline mileage. Intermodal Connections The NTS will specifically include intermodal hubs--facilities that serve as collection points and as transfer points between modes and transportation services. While data on these hubs will be collected from a variety of sources, mode by mode, we hope the NTS will enable us to analyze the intermodal effectiveness of all major hubs--airports, train stations, freight terminals, ports, bus and transit depots, etc. It is at intermodal collection and transfer points that travel delays and inefficiencies often occur. It is our intent that the NTS be useful to planners, other public officials and private transportation firms across the nation as an analytical tool to identify and begin to solve such bottlenecks. Most, if not all of these will be identified for inclusion in the NTS through the Congressionally-mandated NHS intermodal facility identification process or will fall under one or more of the categories described above. Still, we will need to be alert to circumstances where the importance of the connection facility stems from its collective role, rather than its importance to any one modal system. Cross-Cutting Criteria In addition to the volume-based considerations outlined above, there may be other categories of criteria that will help identify the appropriate facilities for NTS purposes. A number of these are described below. In some instances, State and local planning authorities will help apply these criteria. Presumably, the use of multiple criteria does not require that all of the individual criteria be satisfied to qualify; rather, meeting one or more of the criteria finally used could qualify a facility or route for inclusion on the initial NTS. Connectivity The modal systems within the NTS must connect internally and with each other. This will mean that certain segments or facilities might be included because they make the system continuous or provide an essential connection among modes. Population Clusters It may be useful to favor facilities serving large metropolitan areas--for example, in areas exceeding some level of population (e.g., 250,000, 500,000). This is a way of ensuring that the NTS incorporates facilities providing existing or potential service to the major population clusters of the country. (At first blush, this would seem to be a more fitting criteria for passenger service than for freight service.) National Coverage In order to ensure that the NTS ties the nation together it might be appropriate to designate at least one facility in each (applicable) modal category (i.e. airport, freight rail, etc.) within every State or region. International Trade Facilities and routes serving important border crossings or ports of entry would be identified on the initial NTS to ensure that the NTS supports the country's international economic competitiveness objectives. Defense and Emergency Readiness Facilities necessary for defense purposes will be a part of the NTS. They will be defined by the appropriate Federal agencies. Special National or Regional Functions As indicated above, it may be possible and useful to identify populations with special mobility needs or economic activities that have an impact on national objectives, but which are not captured by other criteria. (Examples of the latter may be important recreational or tourist locations (e.g., national parks) or coal producing regions in West Virginia or Wyoming.) Since it is possible to make these arguments for many groups and activities, such criteria must stress the importance of these impacts at the regional or national level. State and local impacts are no less important, but are better addressed by the transportation planning processes at these levels. Summary In an era of increasing international competition, we cannot afford to let an inefficient, piecemeal transportation network waste the Nation's time and energy resources and hold our economy back. The NTS will help us overcome the fragmented history of transportation development by providing us with a framework for analysis and decisionmaking that will lead to a more integrated and effective system. With your help, decisions on the criteria for the NTS can be made, and we can begin building the analytical framework that will produce an efficient intermodal transportation system, ready to serve the traveling and shipping public in the 21st Century. As indicated at the outset, this document is intended to stimulate substantive discussion about how to begin building that analytical framework and identifying the strategic components of the nation's total transportation system. We invite your active participation. Determining the criteria for including transportation facilities in the NTS is an important procedural step in the larger NTS process. In seeking consensus on the NTS criteria, we hope to foster a frank and wide-ranging evaluation of the ways our national transportation system is now working and--more specifically--to engage in a practical, focused examination of the kinds of information, data, and analysis we will all need in order to make that system as efficient, accessible, and productive as possible. Questions for Discussion 1. Which of the criteria suggested in the Working Paper most accurately capture the essential elements of the national transportation network, across all modes? 2. What multimodal transportation performance data are available that might be helpful in the identification of the initial NTS? 3. Are there measurable criteria currently available which will better capture the national impacts of transportation on economic, environmental and social objectives? 4. How can criteria be developed or adjusted to reflect economic and other objectives more directly and accurately? 5. Do these criteria establish comparable and appropriate levels of inclusion across the various transportation modes? Are any elements over-represented or under-represented? In what way? 6. What factors have we failed to consider in this initial effort to define the NTS? How would one measure them? 7. What are the best ways to reflect social and environmental objectives in the identification of the NTS? 8. How should the NTS deal with the future, i.e., with anticipated or planned facilities or actions? Would it be useful to adopt a planning horizon, and, if so, what should it be? How do we select system additions that are ``real,'' in the sense of having an acceptable likelihood of implementation? 9. What kinds of criteria can be used to identify significant intermodal facilities, and do they identify terminals that will not qualify by other measures? 10. Are there criteria that would reflect, on a national or regional scale, the mobility requirements for such groups as rural residents or the disabled? Issued this 18th day of August 1994, in Washington, DC. Michael P. Huerta, Associate Deputy Secretary and Director, Office of Intermodalism. [FR Doc. 94-20723 Filed 8-23-94; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4910-62-P