CMV Safety | Freight Logistics & Policy | Truck Size & Weight | TACT | Wireless, Vehicle-to-Infrastructure Communication

ITRE seeks to engage members of the NC Trucking Association in Charlotte, NC's desire to develop a Freight Mobility Plan

On June 16, Dr. Hughes, Director of ITRE's CMV Research Group, made the following presentation,  Congestion and the Movement of Freight in the Charlotte Region (PDF:9.31MB), to members of the North Carolina Trucking Association (NCTA) and to members of the City of Charlotte DOT, representatives of the Centrolina Council of Governments (CCOG), and to representatives of the UNC-Charlotte Center for Transportation Policy Studies.  Members of the NC State Highway Patrol's Motor Carrier Enforcement Section from Troops E and H as well as a MCSAP representative from the HQ in Raleigh  were also present.  The meeting was held at the Michael Waltrip Racing facility in Cornelius, NC.

The intent of the presentation was to 'lay on the table' what is currently known (e.g., from FAF3) of the 'projected' freight demand (now through 2035) in the Charlotte FAF region and how the movement of freight both is affected by congestion in the region and how it also contributes to that congestion.

Charlotte is a major hub for both truck and rail freight and has plans to develop  a major regional inter-modal freight facility in the near future to be co-located with Charlotte Douglas International Airport. The presentation used GIS displays to visualize data on major highway and rail facilities in the area, truck volumes on major corridors, geo-coded locations of all CMV-involved crashes for 2007-2009, locations of distribution centers, food facilities, manufacturing facilities, and businesses with more than 50 employees. 

With respect to congestion, per se, major commercial vehicle 'bottlenecks' identified by ATRI were reviewed as well as geo-coded data on 'unreliable links' identified in a  2010 UNC-Charlotte  study.  The UNC-Charlotte study attempted to develop a 'congestion index' based in large part on travel times and their variability, recurring and non-recurring sources of congestion, as well as vehicle crashes. The UNC-Charlotte study was not CMV or freight specific.

As part of the discussion of congestion, a Google Maps/Traffic presentation (animation mov file) was made that provided a 24-hr animation of simultaneously collected  Google traffic data from multiple view points:

(a) the "downtown" area bordered by I-277;

(b) the larger urban area defined by the I-485 loop;

(c) a regional view of the area between Greensboro and Charlotte, and

(d) a regional view of roadway/traffic conditions between Charlotte, NC and Atlanta, GA.

The animation is provided here as a separate file, and requires QuickTime to be loaded on your machine. A 'slider' feature permits the viewer to selectively  move forward and/or  backward through the 24hr period.

The audience of trucking professionals and local area DOT and planning professionals were introduced to the emerging concept of 'more productive vehicles' and to the potential impacts, both positive and negative, that such vehicles can be expected to generate. The audience was also encouraged to become more informed about the movement in Australia on the use of Performance Based Standards (PBS) as opposed to the more limited and restrictive regulation of commercial motor vehicles in the US based primarily upon length, width, height, and weight restrictions. The PBS focus serves to put the emphasis on 'the right vehicle,' for the 'right function,' and the 'right roadway’ conditions.

 Throughout the presentation, it was emphasized that the freight congestion problem in Charlotte is not simply a problem of "tractor trailers on interstates" but a problem that extends to all classes of commercial motor vehicles operating/doing business within the larger urban area. The presentation concluded with the suggestion that viable 'solutions' need to focus on a blending of traffic management and freight distribution requirements.

ITRE's interest in the freight mobility problem represents a logical extension over time of its interests in commercial motor vehicle safety and operations . . . an interest that began over 10 years ago with the beginning of its support of the CMV crash analysis needs of the motor carrier enforcement unit in the state (then a part of the NCDOT Division of Motor Vehicles). The analysis interest in 'safety'  has in the past several  years been elevated from the 'crash' level to the level of the 'carrier' and to the analysis of carrier attributes shown to be highly correlated with crash risk. The logical extension of that focus to 'freight' seems to us to be the obvious next step.

As part of Dr. Hughes role on the TRB Visualization in Transportation technical committee (ABJ95) and the current focus within the national transportation research community on freight, freight data, and the need for data-driven investment in freight system infrastructure improvements, Dr. Hughes generated a TRB Research Need Statement on Freight Data Visualization. In a recent paper presented at the Transportation Research Forum meeting in Long Beach, CA, Dr. Hughes outlines what he feels to be challenges of data visualization as applied to 'freight.' (see presentation titled, Bringing Analysis and Data Visualization to Bear on the Critical Issues Affecting the Safe and Efficient Operation of Commercial Motor Vehicles within the Domain of Freight and the Larger Transportation System (PDF:12.40MB) and paper title, Freight Data Visualization: A 'Pivotal' Point in the Development of Visualization Applications in Transportation(PDF:632KB)  Working with other members of the committee and with the SHRP2 C20 program on the need for innovations in freight data demand modeling,  ABJ95 successfully argued that freight data visualization should occupy a prominent place in the SHRP2 C20 strategic research plan.

ITRE sees the process of developing a Charlotte Freight Mobility Plan as an excellent applied research opportunity for exploring the potential for freight data visualization. It should also be mentioned that other staff members of ITRE (e.g., Dr. George List, et al) are involved in a state level 'logistics task force' the goal of which is to develop an integrated, statewide, freight/logistics plan for North Carolina.  The following provides a graphic representation of our perception of ITRE's potential for partnering with other city, regional, and state level stakeholders in the larger area of freight transportation. (Single PP slide-ITRE role)