INLAND PORTS: PLANNING SUCCESSFUL DEVELOPMENTS

The consideration of multi-modal inland ports to enhance trade corridor performance and improve the efficiency of global supply chains is starting to emerge in the transportation community. Ultimately, it is believed that inland ports have the capability to create local employment, enhance corridor efficiencies and thus trade competitiveness, and reduce both public and private costs. The objective of 4083-1 was to create a classification methodology to better understand how different inland ports can support efficient supply chains and enhance corridor performance. The first year study recognized the importance of inland ports as international trade processing locations. In addition to this function, inland ports relieve congested traditional ports of entry, facilitate value-added services, and enhance local and regional development. The objectives of 4083-2 are to demonstrate the role and benefits of inland ports, provide a brief overview of the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) highway planning and programming process, highlight the critical investments required and the level of TxDOT support that can be expected as the inland ports develop, consider the impacts of trade and trade truck flows on the locations of inland port developments, and finally, propose an evaluation framework that allows TxDOT planners to review potential inland port investment requests from a transportation planning perspective. Given the multi-modal components of inland port developments, it is foreseen that the findings of this study can be used to inform transportation planners considering the location of multi-modal terminals on the proposed Trans Texas Corridors.