FHWA Operations Support - Port Peak Pricing Program Evaluation

1.0 Introduction

Over the past two decades, international waterborne container trade has been the fastest growing driver of freight transportation demand in the United States. The effects have been particularly dramatic at our major container ports. While intermodal rail has had positive impacts, the effects of truck congestion – both at the terminals and along major access routes – have been increasingly identified by many communities as significant issues. A number of ports and intermodal terminals are considering peak-period truck pricing strategies modeled on the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles PierPASS OffPeak program to: 1) reduce peak-period congestion; 2) improve terminal operating efficiencies; 3) reduce truck wait and idle times; 4) improve air quality; and 5) lessen community impacts.

To facilitate this process, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Office of Freight Management and Operations, with support from Cambridge Systematics, Inc. (CS), is conducting an evaluation of the applicability, Federal policy implications, and possible public and private sector roles related to peak pricing strategies at other ports and intermodal facilities in the U.S. This report presents a detailed discussion of the results from this evaluation.

The remainder of this report is organized into the following sections:

Section 2: Analysis of the PierPASS OffPeak Program – This section provides a summary of the key issues pertaining to the PierPASS OffPeak program, focusing on the factors that led to the implementation of the program, the success of the program in mitigating peak-period traffic congestion, and stakeholder perceptions about the program.

Section 3: Market Analysis – This section provides a discussion of the key port market characteristics to be considered in evaluating the feasibility of port peak pricing programs, and the results of the performance evaluation of selected ports with respect to the identified set of market characteristics/factors.

Section 4: Institutional Analysis – This section provides a discussion of the key institutional issues pertinent to port peak pricing programs, including shipper acceptance of peak pricing programs, the role of shipper organizations, longshore labor unions, and independent drayage truckers in program development/implementation, and the impacts of night-time trucking/noise restrictions on the feasibility of port peak pricing programs.

Section 5: Policy and Program Considerations – This section presents a discussion of the key policy/regulatory issues pertaining to port pricing, including a summary of existing Federal congestion pricing programs, existing Federal port related policies, legal issues pertaining to port user fees, and considerations for Federal port peak pricing program and evaluation guidelines.

Section 6: Conclusions.

Appendices.

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