NEW YORK — More tracks, not highways, is the solution to North America’s transport infrastructure woes, says Gil Carmichael, head of the Intermodal Transportation Institute at the University of Denver.

Speaking at the 15th World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems in New York, Carmichael said that any realistic discussion on the future of transportation must include the role of railroads. He stressed that, while the global movement of freight is sharply focused on speed, reliable scheduling, and economic efficiency, it is the railroads that offer the high-speed, long distance, lowest cost transportation artery on land.

Cargo ships provide ocean transport of containers, while trucks provide local feeder service at origins and destination and cargo airplanes deliver high-value, specialized freight, he said.

"Railroads are essential to the global business environment we live and work in and are vital to its future growth," said Carmichael. "Today, a doublestack container train can replace 280 trucks, run at speeds up to 90 mph, and afford as much as nine times the fuel efficiency of container transport by highway. In North America alone, a majority of existing railroad rights-of-way have excess capacity that is capable of being expanded to include additional freight lanes as well as inner-and intra-city high-speed mass transit."

On the tracks is where the future of transport is at

With advanced technologies and careful planning, he foresees a doubling or even tripling of capacity of the existing route structure without having to acquire additional land.

"Sometime in this century, the fossil fuel supply will start to fall dramatically. Building more highways is definitely not the solution. An Intelligent Transportation System is."

He believes that if fuel-cell technology will eventually deliver a reliable power source at a reasonable cost, it likely is the most desirable outcome and could be adopted by both the railroad and highway modes. But that source also is a finite fuel.

Another option, with the most promising future supply, is electricity, and in the foreseeable future the railroad mode is the only candidate for large-scale benefits from electrification among the commercial transportation modes, he said.

"The major sticking point is the source of fuel for the electricity," he said. "It would be foolish to install an electrified delivery system for power generated from natural gas, for example, because the gas could be delivered directly to the locomotive. But a rail system run on power from nuclear, solar, wind farms, tides, and other fuel sources could, in 20 or 30 years’ time, have very strong appeal and possibilities."

Regardless of fluctuations in oil prices, intermodal freight movements make the most sense going forward.

"The success we have achieved in intermodal transportation points the way to what, I believe, is the most promising strategy for North American transportation improvements, for freight and passenger, in the coming years," Carmichael emphasized.

"I call that strategy Interstate II … a vision of 30,000 miles of truly high-speed, intercity/port travel that is based upon the steel wheel on a steel rail, not pavement. It would partner the superior safety and efficiency of rail transportation with the strengths of the existing intermodal system, enhanced with new Intelligent Transportation Systems."

— via Truckinginfo.com