Logistics Sprawl and Urban Freight Planning Issues in a Major Gateway City - Sustainable Urban Logistics: Concepts, Methods and Information Systems - page 54

(SCAG 2011 ). The SCAG report points out that an overwhelming majority of
goods movement activity in the SCAG region is generated by local businesses
moving goods to local customers. Local movements represent 85 % of the region's
truck trips. Every day, more than 1 million truck trips are made in the region, but
only 50,000 are directly linked to port traffic (see below for a discussion of the San
Pedro bay ports). More specifically, using the 1997 Commodity Flow Survey and
the 2000 SCAG Heavy Duty Truck Model, the Tioga Group and Cambridge
Systematics ( 2003 ) showed that:
80 % of the tonnages originating in Southern California stays within SCAG
90 % of the tonnages originating in Southern California stays within the state
Over 75 % of truck tonnages move less than 50 miles
64 % of tonnages from for-hire trucking move less than 50 miles
82 % of tonnages from private trucking move less than 50 miles
20 % of Parcel and USPS (the US postal service) move less than 50 miles.
The main freight-related issues affecting the region mentioned in the various
freight reports are a shortage of drivers, rising wage, fuel and insurance costs, and
environmental restrictions and regulations which increase the financial burdens on
freight companies. Rising congestion is also a major issue.
As regards rail, 250 intermodal trains run every week in the intermodal trains
run every week in L.A. area (as this figure dates from 1998, it underestimates
current flows, as intermodal traffic has increased rapidly over the last decade).
Freight rail is provided by BNSF and Union Pacific, as well as three short line
railroads (Pacific Harbor Line, Los Angeles Junction Railway and Ventura County
Railway). Another short line (San Jacinto Branch Line) is BNSF-operated and
controlled by Riverside County. According to the Tioga Group and Cambridge
Systematics ( 2003 , p. 17) however, ''the long-term potential for greater short line
rail service in SCAG is limited, as United Pacific and BNSF have completed their
branch line abandonment and rationalization programs…(and) railroad branch
lines and secondary main lines are attractive candidates for high priority rail
passenger and commuter services.''
The Tioga Group and Cambridge Systematics ( 2003 ) study points out that
California is somewhat isolated from the Nation's large consumer and economic
markets. The state is close to many markets within a 250-500 mile range
(including California itself, Nevada and Arizona), and is connected to national
markets that are over 1200 miles away. In between, there are not many delivery
markets with the exception of Salt Lake City, El Paso and Albuquerque.
3.2 The San Pedro Bay Ports
The San Pedro bay ports consist of the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
They are two different institutional entities, competing for ships and clients but
sharing many operational activities and strategies. Erie ( 2004 ) provides a fasci-
nating account of the development of the San Pedro bay ports. Although San