Freight Rail Bottom Line ReportIn January 2003, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) published the Freight Rail Bottom Line Report, which catalogued the many public benefits of freight rail - and found that increased use of rail would magnify those benefits substantially. AASHTO found that just a 1% increase in rail's share of the freight market by 2020 would:
- Allow nearly 600 million tons of additional freight to move by rail - enough to fill almost 15 million trucks per year,
- Reduce traffic congestion and save drivers almost $20 billion per year in time and fuel costs,
- Save taxpayers at least $17 billion in additional highway costs over 20 years,
- Reduce transportation costs for shippers by $25 billion per year - a savings which can then be passed on to consumers, and
- Create greater efficiencies for the entire transportation system by carrying trailer loads and containers on cost-efficient, low-emmission intermodal trains for movements between cities.
Click here to view the entire Freight Rail Bottom Line Report. |