Loveridge Testifies on Ports and Impact on U.S. Transportation
by Leslie Wollack
As the two busiest seaports in the United States, the
ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif., handled almost 16 million containers and
close to 300 million metric tons of cargo in 2007. For California
and the rest of the nation, how these goods move across the country and
equitable ways to deal with the negative environmental and other infrastructure
impacts of this freight will play a large role in the discussion of a new
transportation program for the U.S.
NLC Second Vice
President Ronald O. Loveridge, mayor of Riverside, Calif., outlined the impact of the ports
on the Southern California region at a field
hearing of the House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on the
Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation on August 4.
Loveridge told the subcommittee that “rail traffic in the
region is expected to increase 240 percent … from 91 million tons in 1995 to 309
million tons in 2020. More than 75
percent of the rail freight exiting the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach travels through the Inland
Empire to destinations in every state.”
Noting the impact on his city,
Mayor Loveridge pointed out that on a daily basis, as many as 128 trains move
through the City of Riverside. As a result, the residents of Riverside
currently encounter the crossing gates down for an average of three hours per day
and as long as six hours per day at each of the 26 priority at-grade
crossings in the city. This impacts public safety, vehicle safety, air quality
and economic development.
Subcommittee Chair Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) called the hearing
in advance of the House Transportation Committee deliberations on the next
surface transportation program.
“The
need to provide infrastructure adequate to accommodate transportation demand,
while protecting our environment by reducing air emissions, are central
concerns of almost every facet of transportation policy in this nation today,
including maritime and freight transportation,” said Cummings. “Because the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach together
comprise the largest port complex in the United States, as well as the largest
single source of pollution in California’s South Coast Air Quality Management
District, their efforts to respond to these two critical challenges are of
great interest to the subcommittee as well as to ports throughout the nation.”
According to the California Air Resources Board (CARB), the
agency that regulates air pollution in California, “Air pollution from international
trade and goods movement is a major public health concern at the statewide,
regional and community level. Adverse health impacts from the pollutants
associated with goods movement include but are not limited to premature death,
cancer risk, respiratory illnesses and increased risk of heart disease. ...
Adverse birth outcomes, effects on the immune system, multiple respiratory
effects, and neurotoxicity are additional potential health effects."
Freight transportation has doubled every 10 years and is
expected to increase within the U.S.
border 100 percent by 2020. During that time,
foreign trade is expected to increase by 187 percent, while contained cargo
will experience an explosive 350 percent increase, according the National
Association of Regional Councils (NARC).
The domestic and international freight capacity of the nation's ports,
waterways, transfer facilities and highway and rail connectors will greatly
impact economic competitiveness. Keeping pace with gateway infrastructure and the movement of goods from
their port of entry to their destination will impact all parts of the
country.
Groups such as NARC and the American Road Builders and
Transportation Association are recommending separated programs and a dedicated
funding source as part of the next surface transportation bill.
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