Office of Operations Freight Management and Operations
Analysis, Data, and System Performance > NHS Connectors > Table of Contents

Appendix A
NHS Intermodal Connector Selection Criteria

Proposed modifications consisting of connections to major intermodal facilities should be developed using the criteria set forth below. These criteria were used for identifying initial NHS intermodal connections to major intermodal terminals. The primary criteria are based on annual passenger volumes, annual freight volumes, or daily vehicular traffic on one or more principal routes that serve the intermodal facility. The secondary criteria include factors that underscore the importance of an intermodal facility within a specific State.

Primary Criteria

Commercial Aviation Airports

  1. Passengers – scheduled commercial service with more than 250,000 annual enplanements.
  2. Cargo – 100 trucks per day in each direction on the principal connecting route, or 100,000 tons per year arriving or departing by highway mode.

Ports

  1. Terminals that handle more than 50,000 TEUs (a volumetric measure of containerized cargo which stands for twenty-foot equivalent units) per year, or other units measured that would convert to more than 100 trucks per day in each direction. (Trucks are defined as large single-unit trucks or combination vehicles handling freight.)
  2. Bulk commodity terminals that handle more than 500,000 tons per year by highway or 100 trucks per day in each direction on the principal connecting route. (If no individual terminal handles this amount of freight, but a cluster of terminals in close proximity to each other does, then the cluster of terminals could be considered in meeting the criteria. In such cases, the connecting route might terminate at a point where the traffic to several terminals begins to separate.)
  3. Passenger terminals that handle more than 250,000 passengers per year or 1,000 passengers per day for at least 90 days during the year.

Truck/Rail

50,000 TEUs/year, or 100 trucks per day, in each direction on the principal connecting route, or other units measured that would convert to more than 100 trucks per day in each direction. (Trucks are defined as large single-unit trucks or combination vehicles carrying freight.)

Pipelines

100 trucks/day in each direction on the principal connecting route

Amtrak

100,000 passengers/year (entrainments and detrainments) Joint Amtrak, intercity bus and public transit terminals should be considered based on the combined passenger volumes. Likewise, two or more separate facilities in close proximity should be considered based on combined passenger volumes.

Intercity Bus

100,000 passengers/year (boardings and deboardings)

Public Transit

  1. Stations with park and ride lots with more than 500 vehicle parking spaces: or
  2. 5,000 daily bus or rail passengers with significant highway access (i.e., a high percentage of the passengers arrive by cars and buses using a route that connects to an NHS route); or
  3. A major hub terminal that provides for the transfer of passengers between several bus routes. These stations should have a significant number of buses using a connector route to the NHS.

Ferries

Interstate/international – 1000 passengers/day for at least 90 days (usually summer) during the year – A ferry connecting two terminals within the same metropolitan area is considered local transit, not interstate.

Secondary Criteria

Any of the following criteria could be used to justify NHS connections to intermodal terminals where there is a significant highway interface:

  1. Intermodal terminals that handle more than 20 percent of passenger or freight volumes by mode within a State;
  2. Intermodal terminals identified either in the Intermodal Management System or the State and metropolitan transportation plans as a major facility;
  3. Significant investment in, or expansion of, an intermodal terminal; or
  4. Connecting routes targeted by the State, MPO, or others for investment to address an existing, or anticipated, deficiency as a result of increased traffic.

Proximate Connections

Intermodal terminals, identified under the secondary criteria noted above, may not have sufficient highway traffic volumes to justify an NHS connection on any single route to the terminal. States and MPOs should fully consider whether a direct connection should be identified for such terminals, or whether being in the proximity (2 to 3 miles) of a NHS route is sufficient.

previous | next
Office of Operations