| he research began with a review of the current congestion issues being faced on the National Highway System. As the population in the U.S. continues to increase and demand for goods increases along with it, more emphasis will be placed on solving the congestion problem being faced on the nation's current highway infrastructure. The construction of new highways and increasing of highway capacity cannot keep up with the growth that the U.S. is forecasting over the next 20 years. The major motivation for this thesis was the impact that congestion is having on the urban and rural areas of the U.S. It is diminishing the quality of life for residents, polluting the environment, and hurting the economy. The primary objectives were to use geospatial analysis to analyze select routes for three freight case studies and one passenger rail study, and calculate the benefits of using alternative modes. Commodity flow analysis determined opportunities for freight diversion from highway to rail or barge for three case studies. Analysis was performed for each case study to determine the benefits of using alternative modes of freight transportation, which included travel time savings, total ton-mile cost savings, CO2 emission reduction, and other societal benefits. Each case study showed at least a 50% reduction in each of the benefits for all case studies when diverting freight from highway to rail or waterway. The optimized minimum cost of shipping from Laredo to Detroit is... |
