PennDOT Releases 2045 Freight Movement Plan

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) on May 17 released its 2045 Freight Movement Plan (FMP), a comprehensive strategic plan for moving goods throughout the Commonwealth.

According to PennDOT, the FMP, which was developed over a two-year period through collaboration with freight stakeholders, provides information on the state’s freight infrastructure and the agency’s efforts to continually improve the safe and efficient movement of freight statewide. “An approved and up-to-date freight plan ensures that Pennsylvania remains eligible for approximately $58.5 million annually in federal funding under the National Highway Freight Program (NHFP) through 2026,” the agency said.

Goals included in the FMP (download below) include:

• “Aligning freight mobility with economic development and land use.
• “Advancing project investments that enhance freight mobility.
• “Providing planning, data and analytical tools for improved decision-making and collaboration with freight stakeholders.
• “Improving multimodal freight transportation operations and safety.
• “Reducing, avoiding and/or mitigating adverse environmental impacts from Pennsylvania’s freight transportation system, and planning for environmental impacts to freight movement.”

Together with the 2045 Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP), the FMP “establishes priorities and critical transportation strategies to guide project investments,” PennDOT said. Both the FMP and LRTP represent a multimodal approach to improve mobility, safety, fairness, resilience, and sustainability for moving people and goods throughout the Commonwealth.

The FMP addresses all state and federal provisions for freight planning. According to PennDOT, both the FMP and LRTP “advance policies, goals and objectives while leveraging the agency’s landmark PennDOT Connects initiative, a transportation project approach that enhances local engagement to improve transportation-project planning, design and delivery.”

“The new Freight Movement Plan will help guide the investment decisions we make regarding the infrastructure that supports freight movement,” said PennDOT Secretary Michael Carroll. “The plan positions us to respond to the major changes from the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and ensure Pennsylvania has a safe, efficient, and integrated freight system to support jobs and commerce.”

“The FMP’s goals and objectives set a clear direction, and PennDOT will carry out an Action Plan in coordination with freight stakeholders to make systematic progress over the next four years,” said PennDOT Deputy Secretary for Planning Larry Shifflet. “We’ll be regularly tracking implementation progress and performance measures in Pennsylvania’s biennial Transportation Performance Report (TPR).”

Class I railroads CSX and Norfolk Southern (NS) serve Pennsylvania, as well as three regional railroads and 57 short lines.