|
|
|
 |
|
Home / Washington Business - November/December 2007 / Moving People and Products:Making Washington's economy go |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
Moving People and Products:Making Washington's economy go |
|
|
|
Written On: November/December 2007 |
|
|
|
Written By: by Paul Schlienz |
|
|
|
Washington is America's most trade-dependent state. Without its transportation infrastructure, none of the economic benefits of international and interstate trade would be possible.
Washington's transportation network includes railways, highways, waterborne traffic and airports. Over the years, this system has served the state well. But traffic congestion on the roads, a crumbling viaduct, an aging floating bridge, and increasing pressures on the railroads have policy-makers and other stakeholders sounding alarms that Washington's transportation system may be inadequate for current and future needs.
In November 2006, the Washington State Transportation Commission adopted the 2007-2026 Washington Transportation Plan. Although authorized by statute, the plan lacks the force of law. Instead, it's merely a guide for transportation policy and investment decisions.
The plan's key policy recommendations include an emphasis on developing sustainable transportation funding sources, coordinating land-use regulations with transportation needs, making transportation safer, reducing reliance on fossil fuels, and recognizing the connection between transportation and the economy.
"What needs to be done?" asks Paul Parker, senior policy analyst with the WTC. "A lot. We think substantive improvements need to be made in safety and in mobility, both for people and for goods."
Current funding for the 20-year period covered by the plan provides nearly $29 billion in transportation investments. The Nickel funding package, enacted 2003, raises $4.7 billion over 10 years while the 2005 Transportation Partnership Act raises $9 billion over 16 years. Although the plan does not recommend specific projects, it does project almost $38 billion in 2005 dollars in unfunded needs between now and 2026.
"The first priority is that we need to keep what we already have running," Parker said. "Our existing road systems should be the first priority before we make a lot of investments in new infrastructure. There are limits to what we can do with the existing gas tax, and there aren't a lot of discretionary funds available. To the extent that new projects are needed, one of the things that the commission has looked at—at the request of the Legislature—is the possibility of tolling projects and public-private partnerships."
All roads lead to Washington's ports
Nowhere in Washington is the economic importance of transportation more obvious than in the state's major ports. Ocean-going cargo from Asia enters the ports and is transferred to rail. From there, the goods roll on—most often to the Midwest.
A smaller, but still significant, amount of cargo leaves the ports in trucks. From the docks, these goods are hauled over highways to major warehousing complexes like the Kent Valley or the Port of Tacoma's Frederickson Industrial Area, near Fort Lewis.
The ports also receive goods produced right here in Washington. The products range from software to agricultural products, some of which float by barge from inland ports along the Snake and Columbia rivers to the Port of Vancouver. On the docks of major ports like Seattle, Tacoma and Vancouver, Washington goods are loaded onto ships that take them to the rapidly growing markets of Asia.
Washington's longtime function as the gateway to Alaska, born in the Klondike gold rush of the 1890s, is alive and well at the Port of Tacoma. Barges loaded with every imaginable cargo sail north to Alaska, providing 75 percent of all the goods consumed in the nation’s largest state.
Passengers also move through Washington's ports. The Port of Seattle is an important hub for the cruise ship industry, serviced by major lines like Holland America and Princess Cruises. Even more significant is the global importance of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, owned and operated by the Port of Seattle. Sea-Tac handled 30 million passengers in 2006 and offers nonstop commercial airline service to countries as distant as France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Denmark, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan. In addition, Sea-Tac is a major hub for air cargo that ships Washington products—including Boeing aircraft parts—worldwide.
Business is booming in Washington's ports. Taken together, the ports of Tacoma and Seattle are the third-largest container load center in the United States and the 15th largest in the world. Currently, they have room to grow and accommodate an ever-increasing volume of trade from Asia. However, these transportation hubs and engines for growth in Washington face major competition from other players on the West Coast, including the nearby British Columbia ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert, which benefit from major investments by the Canadian federal government in developing their transcontinental rail corridors.
"The competition for the flow of international trade is real and serious—not just from British Columbia and California, but from the all-water route to the east via the Panama Canal and planned port development and expansion in Mexico and Oregon," said the Port of Seattle's Charla Skaggs. "Many governments recognize the economic benefits from international trade and are investing public money into transportation improvements to ports. It's critically important for our state and local governments to recognize the positive economic impact of international trade and the movement of freight in job creation and retention. All levels of government must help to keep Washington ports competitive by investing in infrastructure and ensuring that we don't hurt ourselves with policies or decisions that make us less competitive than other ports in other regions and countries."
One controversial funding idea proposed in the 2007 legislative session, but never enacted, was a tax on containers entering the ports. It was widely opposed by the ports, which saw it as a potential disincentive for shippers who would otherwise use Washington's ports.
"We believe that a cargo tax would mean a diversion of cargo, a diversion of business and—most importantly—it would mean a diversion of jobs," said Sean Eagan of the Port of Tacoma. "That diversion would go to other states and other countries."
Indispensable rail
Essential to the continued flow of goods through Washington's ports are the state's railroads. At the Port of Tacoma alone, about 75 percent of the cargo unloaded from ships goes directly to rail. Rail transport is much more efficient than trucks for long-distance shipping, since one train can carry the equivalent of 250 to 300 truckloads.
Due to the critical importance of rail, there is great interest in expanding rail capacity in both the ports’ intermodal facilities—where cargo moves from ships to rail—and on the rail corridors beyond. Of particular concern to the ports, the railroads, their shippers and the state is the need to eliminate choke points on the rail lines that slow down the flow of freight.
Much of the worst congestion in the rail system is in the Seattle-Tacoma urban area where trains must be broken down in order to move into port areas. While the obvious solution to some choke points would be to convert single-track lines to double tracks, some are difficult to convert. A prime example is the long stretch of single-track line that hugs Puget Sound between Seattle and Everett with little space for expansion.
BNSF, the state's largest railroad, is working to make its network more efficient. Among its improvements was reopening the Stampede Pass line in 1996, providing another intrastate freight route along with the Columbia Gorge and Stevens Pass. The railroad also built a critical siding at Lyle, in Klickitat County, which helps keep traffic moving on the Columbia Gorge route. In addition, BNSF invested in a high-speed fueling station in Hauser, Idaho.
"This station enables BNSF to fuel trains in Idaho as opposed to bringing them into congested rail yard locations in Seattle, Vancouver and other points where it could take up to eight hours to simply fuel a locomotive," said Gus Melonas, BNSF spokesman. "With the high-speed operation, which works like a filling station, trains pull in, fuel up in 30 minutes and are on their way."
BNSF is also helping to alleviate traffic congestion by allowing Sound Transit commuter rail trains to use its tracks between Tacoma and Everett. In addition, Amtrak passenger service—including trains on the heavily traveled Portland-to-Seattle route—uses BNSF tracks. This service exists, in part, thanks to state funding.
Congested highways
Highway congestion remains a major concern for planners and a tremendous headache for those who must suffer through it. Traffic tie-ups also slow down the trucks that carry goods to and from the ports.
"On the I-5 corridor, it's taking our drivers two hours to go just 30 miles from Everett to Seattle," said Steve Holtgeerts of Hogland Transfer Co., a trucking firm in Everett.
One choke point that negatively affects the Port of Tacoma is the lack of direct freeway access between the Kent Valley warehouses and the port. Because the Puyallup-to-Fife leg of State Route 167 is still unbuilt years after it was first planned, trucks that run between the Kent Valley and the Port of Tacoma must either use narrow rural roads between Puyallup and Tacoma or add to the congestion on State Route 18 and Interstate 5 through Federal Way.
Reflecting the thinking of the WTC, Holtgeerts believes highway funding will ultimately come from user fees.
"I believe that, whether we like it or not, there will be more user-fee pricing with transponder technology like we're seeing on the new Tacoma Narrows Bridge," Holtgeerts said. "I'm not a strong advocate of more tolling, but I think that's the path that's needed … There needs to be new funding sources for maintaining the highways we have or building new ones."
No matter how Washington ultimately chooses to pay for improvements to its transportation infrastructure, a consensus is clearly building that funding sources must be found.
"Our unemployment is low here in Washington," said Patrick Jones, executive director of the Washington Public Ports Association. "Foreclosures are low. We have a diverse economy. One of the keys to that diversification is a very strong international trade sector. As we move forward as a state, if we want to remain a vital trade center—and we want to be part of the international trade community and derive all the benefits from trade—we need to focus on improving our freight mobility system."
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
