Office of Operations
21st Century Operations Using 21st Century Technologies
Table of Contents

Freight Performance Measure Primer

APPENDIX A. HISTORY OF FEDERAL AUTHORIZATION AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO FREIGHT PERFORMANCE MEASURES

FEDERAL AUTHORIZATIONS

Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act

In 1991, President George H.W. Bush signed the $155 billion Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act, or ISTEA, which set the tone for many highway, transit, bicycle, and pedestrian policies. The goal of the legislation was to develop a national intermodal transportation system that was economically efficient, environmentally sound, and provide the foundation for the Nation to compete in the global economy and move people and goods in an energy-efficient manner (U.S. Department of Transportation [USDOT] May 2013).

Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century

The Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) was enacted June 9, 1998 as Public Law 105-178. TEA-21 authorized the Federal surface transportation programs for highways, highway safety, and transit for the six-year period from 1998 to 2003. TEA-21 was built on the initiatives established in ISTEA with the intention of improving safety as highway traffic continued to increase. Other important features of TEA-21 included protecting and enhancing communities and the natural environment and advancing America's economic growth and competitiveness domestically and internationally through efficient and flexible transportation. TEA-21 expanded the role of the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) and opened the door for the development of a Transportation Database, a National Transportation Library, and a National Transportation Atlas Database (USDOT November 2015).

Major focus areas of TEA-21 included infrastructure and motor carrier safety. This included provisions for off-road and bicycle safety improvements. TEA-21 also provided grant funding to encourage States to improve upon their highway safety data collection, including timeliness, accuracy, completeness, uniformity, and accessibility. The National Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program was restructured to promote performance-based activities intended to reduce crashes and develop innovative approaches to improving motor carrier compliance. Additionally, funding was increased to eliminate railway-highway crossings, railroad trespassing accidents, and railway fatalities and injuries.

TEA-21 also featured heavy investment in research to maximize the performance of the transportation system. Intelligent Transportation Systems was a focal point in an effort to improve operations and management of the transportation system and improve vehicle safety.

Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users

On August 10, 2005, President George W. Bush signed the $244.1 billion Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) into law. Inasmuch as ISTEA and TEA-21 began shaping the highway program to meet evolving transportation needs, SAFETEA-LU continued to build on their principles through the largest surface transportation bill in history and continued investments in our transportation infrastructure.

SAFETEA-LU addressed many infrastructure challenges, such as safety, congestion, intermodal connectivity, protecting the environment, and the efficient movement of freight. SAFETEA- LU also established the Highway Safety Improvement Program, which allowed States to target funds for their most critical safety needs, including increased funding for the Railway-Highway Crossing Program. For the first time ever, States were required to develop and implement a strategic highway safety plan and include annual reports containing a list of highway safety improvement projects, implementation strategies, and their effectiveness in decreasing the number of injuries and fatalities. (USDOT August 2005)

Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act

In July 2012, President Barack Obama signed into law Public Law 112-141, the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21). This Surface Transportation Program represented the first long-term transportation bill since SAFETEA-LU in 2005 and provided funding, policy guidance, and a programmatic framework for investments that will guide the growth and development of the Nation's transportation infrastructure. MAP-21 builds on many of the policies established under ISTEA, TEA-21, and SAFETEA-LU and directs the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to work closely with stakeholders to ensure that local communities are able to build multi-modal and sustainable projects (USDOT July 2012).

MAP-21 is a multi-modal program intended to address the multitude of challenges facing an aging and deteriorating transportation network. MAP-21 focused on improving safety, maintaining infrastructure conditions, reducing traffic congestion, improving the efficiency of the system and freight movement, protecting the environment, and reducing delays in project delivery. (USDOT November 2015)

Some of the key freight-related highlights of MAP-21 include the expansion of the National Highway System (NHS). The expansion will incorporate many principal arterial highways currently not on the NHS network. MAP-21 establishes a performance-based program that will allow more efficient investment of Federal transportation funds by focusing on national transportation goals, increasing the accountability and transparency of the Federal highway programs. (USDOT 2012)

MAP-21 authorized Federal funding for roads, bridges, bicycling, and walking improvements. Additionally, MAP-21 enhances innovative financing and encourages private sector investment through a substantial increase in funding for the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) program. It also includes a number of provisions designed to improve freight movement in support of national goals.

Federal funding for the Highway Safety Improvement Program has doubled under MAP-21. This program is aimed at reducing highway fatalities, and in particular the FHWA's efforts to eliminate distracted driving. This program also pushes to improve transit and motor carrier safety.

In addition, due to the critical focus on infrastructure conditions, MAP-21 requires that each State maintain minimum standards for interstate pavement and National Highway System (NHS) bridge conditions. If a State falls below either standard, that State must spend a specified portion of its funds for that purpose until the minimum standard is exceeded (USDOT 2014).

Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act

President Obama signed the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act into law on December 4, 2015. The FAST Act is a five-year Federal authorization for Federal fiscal years 2016 through 2020 and authorizes $305 billion from the Highway Trust Fund and the General Fund over the life of the legislation. The FAST Act created a new National Highway Freight Program (NHFP), a formula-based program that distributes roughly $1.2 billion per year for States to invest in freight projects on the National Highway Freight Network (NHFN). Up to 10 percent of these funds may be used for intermodal projects (American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials [AASHTO] 2015).

The FAST Act also creates a new discretionary program: the Nationally Significant Freight and Highway Projects program. This program is funded at an average of $900 million per year. In addition, the FAST Act provides funding for Federal transit programs, as well as funding for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). Furthermore, this act provides funding over the five-year lifespan of the legislation for the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and Amtrak.

The FAST Act created a national multimodal freight network that includes the NHFN established under MAP-21(consisting of all interstate highways, 41,518 miles of primary highway freight network, critical rural freight corridors, and critical urban freight corridors), NHFN, Class I railroads, ports with annual foreign and domestic trade of at least two million short tons, inland and intra-coastal waterways, the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway, Maritime Administration marine highways, the 50 U.S. airports with the highest annual landed weight, and other assets as identified by the Undersecretary of Policy (i.e., short line railroads). States may seek additional assets on the NHFN with the input of freight stakeholders, including critical rural freight assets (Coalition for America's Gateways and Trade Corridors 2015).

The FAST Act also requires all States using formula dollars to complete a State Freight Plan. While developing a State Freight Plan was optional as outlined in MAP-21, the FAST Act mandates the creation within two-years of the enactment of legislation and requires plan updates a minimum of every five-years. State Freight Plans may be independent of or included with the State's long-range transportation plan. States are still encouraged to form a State Freight Advisory Committee as was the case under MAP-21 (Coalition for America's Gateways and Trade Corridors 2015). Features of the NHFP include:

  • Highway freight projects must be on the NHFN or a highway or bridge project on the NHS, including adding interstate capacity.
  • Other freight projects may also include rail, intermodal facilities, projects in scenic areas, and highway-rail grade separation; however, non-highway projects are limited to $500 million over five-years, must improve freight on the NHFN, and must provide public benefits.
  • Eligible projects and project costs must be equal to or exceed the lesser of $100 million, 30 percent of a State's apportionment if the project is in one State, or 50 percent of the largest State's apportionment in a multi-State project.
  • Ten percent of the program must be set aside annually for Small Projects (grants that are still at a minimum $5 million).
  • Twenty five percent of annual eligible funding will be set aside for projects in rural areas (areas outside urbanized areas with populations over 200,000).
  • Federal project shares may not exceed 60 percent, or 80 percent if other Federal resources are used to satisfy the State share.
  • Freight projects will be treated as if they occur on a Federal-Aid Highway.
  • Congress may disapprove funding for a project within 60 days of USDOT's selection.

The FAST Act established the NHFP. This program is formula-based and authorizes $6.2 billion over the five-year legislation. State shares are based on the State's overall share of the highway program apportionments. Formula funds may be used on the following activities and projects:

  • Project development.
  • Construction, reconstruction rehabilitation, and land acquisition.
  • Intelligent Transportation System projects (including intermodal facilities and border crossings).
  • Rail-highway grade separation.
  • Geometric design improvements.
  • Truck-only lanes.
  • Truck climbing lanes.
  • Runaway truck lanes.
  • Shoulder widening.
  • Truck parking.
  • Electronic screening/credentialing.
  • Real-time information systems.
  • Traffic signals.
  • Ramp metering.
  • Work zone management.
  • Capacity improvements for freight bottlenecks.
  • Data collection and analysis.
  • Performance target development.

The FAST Act established the Nationally Significant Freight and Highway Projects (NSFHP) program to provide financial assistance—competitive grants, known as FASTLANE grants, or credit assistance to nationally and regionally significant freight and highway projects that align with the program goals. The following are project requirements for FASTLANE grants:

  • Highway or freight projects carried out on the NHFN.
  • Highway or bridge projects carried out on the NHS including those that add capacity on the interstate system that improve mobility or projects in a national scenic area.
  • Railway-highway grade crossing or grade separation projects.
  • Freight projects that are:
    • Intermodal or rail projects.
    • Within the boundaries of a public or private freight rail, water, or intermodal facility; is a surface transportation infrastructure project necessary to facilitate direct intermodal interchange, transfer, or access into or out of the facility; and will significantly improve freight movement on the NHFN.

The FAST Act legislation includes a number of additional freight provisions:

  • Considers trucks carrying fluid milk products on the interstates' as non-divisible loads.
  • Allows interstate weight waivers for covered, heavy-duty tow and recovery vehicles.
  • Allows up to 86,000 pounds of gross vehicle weight on interstates for emergency vehicles.
  • Allows vehicle weight attributable to natural gas propulsion system to be exempt from total vehicle weight calculations.
  • Provides specific interstate highway weight waivers in certain States.
  • Sets aside $1.2 billion of Highway Safety Improvement Program funds over five-years for the Section 130 highway-rail grade crossing program.
  • Includes ferries/terminals, truck parking facilities, rail-grade crossings, and intermodal transfers in ports as eligible projects in the new Surface Transportation Block Grant (STBG) program. The STBG provides flexible funding that may be used by States and localities for projects to preserve and improve the conditions and performance on any Federal-aid highway, bridge and tunnel projects on any public road, pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure, and transit capital projects, including intercity bus terminals.
  • Calls for a report on delays in goods movement.
  • Establishes a working group to expedite State approval for emergency routes for commercial vehicles, including examination of potential pre-approved routes.
  • Creates a new port performance statistics program.
  • Provides community safety grants for crude-by-rail.
  • Creates a framework for emergency planning and response for crude-by-rail derailments.
Office of Operations