The Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report on the national freight transportation strategy. The report recommends that Congress should consider clarifying the purpose of the primary freight network and revise the current mileage limit requirements. It also recommends that the Department of Transportation (DOT) clarify the federal role for mitigating local freight-related congestion.
(Excerpt from report)
Recommendations for Executive Actions:
In order to clarify the federal role related to freight-related local traffic congestion, we recommend that the Secretary of Transportation take the following two actions in implementing MAP-21 and any subsequent reauthorization:
- In its final guidance on state freight plans, incorporate additional information to help states define and prioritize local community impacts of national freight movements, including traffic-congestion impacts, and to establish what data could be consistently collected and analyzed in order to prioritize impacts of freight on local traffic congestion
- Include in the National Freight Strategic Plan a written statement articulating the federal role in freight-related local congestion impacts, by clearly identifying potential objectives and goals (under the general area DOT has established for the Freight Transportation Conditions and Performance Report of reducing adverse environmental and community impacts) for mitigating local congestion caused by national freight movements and the type of role federal and state stakeholders could play in achieving each objective and goal, and including a written strategy for improving the availability of national data needed to quantify, assess, and establish measures on freight trends and impacts on local traffic congestion.
