The USA trucking industry’s not-for-profit research organization, the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI), has released its annual list highlighting the most congested bottlenecks for trucks across the country.
Since 2002 ATRI has collected and processed truck GPS data in support of the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Freight Performance Measures (FPM) initiative, a program that maintains and monitors a series of performance measures related to the USA’s truck-based freight transportation system. The metrics generated from ATRI’S ongoing truck bottleneck analysis quantify the impact of traffic congestion on truck-borne freight at 250 locations. The information provided through this effort can empower decision making in both the private and public sectors by allowing stakeholders to better understand the severity of congestion and mobility constraints on the US highway transportation system.
This is of particular importance as the country and its new administration weigh up the needs and resources available for transportation funding. On a state and local level, this research can inform local investment decisions that can directly improve supply chain efficiency. The ‘bottleneck’ analysis incorporates and synthesizes several unique components, including a massive database of truck GPS data at freight-significant locations throughout the USA, and an algorithm that quantifies the impact of congestion on truck-based freight. In addition, the annual reports provide a chronological repository of mobility profiles, whereby congestion changes can be assessed over time. This allows transportation analysts and planners to conduct performance benchmarking and identification of influential factors contributing to congestion, and the consequences on truck-freight mobility.
The 2017 Top Truck Bottleneck List assesses truck-oriented congestion based on GPS data from 600,000+ heavy-duty trucks using several customized software applications and analysis methods, along with terabytes of data from trucking operations. The latest ATRI list represents the top 100 congested locations.
For the second straight year, Atlanta’s ‘spaghetti junction’, the intersection of Interstates 285 and 85 North, is the most congested freight bottleneck in the country. The rest of the top 10 are:
2. I-95 at State Route 4 in Fort Lee, New Jersey;
3. I-290 at I-90/94 in Chicago;
4. I-65 at I-64/71 in Louisville, Kentucky;
5. I-71 at I-75 in Cincinnati;
6. SR 60 at SR 57 in Los Angeles;
7. SR 18 at SR 167 in Auburn, Washington;
8. I-45 at US 59 in Houston;
9. I-75 at I-285 North in Atlanta;
10. I-5 at I-90 in Seattle.
“With President Trump expected to press for significant long-term infrastructure spending, this ATRI analysis should be a key guide for deciding what projects are worthy of funding,” said American Trucking Associations’ president Chris Spear. “Ensuring the safe and efficient movement of goods should be a national priority, and this report draws attention to the places where our highway network needs improvement to meet that goal.”
