Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Diego was the natural port of the south-west (the bay in L.A. was shallower than
San Diego bay for example), Erie identifies the success factors that made it
possible for the L.A. ports to develop and become the largest U.S. port complex
today. These factors include what he calls ''entrepreneurial bureaucrats'' and a
strong tradition of public involvement in mega projects. The competition between
the two ports was also a positive factor. Some collaborative attitudes were crucial
for special projects, such as, in the 1980s, what would later become the Alameda
corridor,
5
as well as ICTF, an intermodal transfer facility located in the port area.
The ports also had two extremely important advantages over their West Coast
rivals: a huge regional market and rail connections.
The two ports handled 14.1 million TEUs in 2010, 13.7 in 2011.
6
We can
identify two types of containerized traffic: local and discretionary. Local traffic
involves goods that are ultimately consumed in Southern California or nearby
states. It represents 23 % of the traffic through the San Pedro bay ports. So-called
discretionary traffic, which accounts for 77 % of San Pedro bay's container traffic,
travels further. Goods can be carried by direct shipping (the maritime container
remains intact), or can be transferred from the maritime container into another type
of container. More than one-third (35 %) of maritime containers leaving the ports
are unmodified, meaning they are transloaded directly onto intermodal trains,
either on-dock (no truck involved) or near-dock (a short truck trip is included). The
proportion of on-dock train loading has been increasing in recent years (see
Table
1
). Leachman (
2012
) provides additional figures, and claims that 73 % of
Asian imports via the San Pedro bay ports are consumed in other regions, and half
of these are shipped intact in marine boxes to other regions. This proportion was
significantly higher in 2001 (64 %). The rest are re-shipped from Southern
California to other regions in domestic boxes, requiring transloading of some sort.
This decreasing share of direct re-shipping (in maritime containers) is one of the
signs of the growing importance of local warehouses/distribution centers.
Table 1 Direct intermodal volumes as a percentage of total container throughput for the ports of
L.A. and LB
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
% On-dock
15.9
18.1
20.7
24.1
23.0
23.7
24.6
23.5
% Near-/off-dock
23.4
21.2
19.5
18.7
18.4
18.5
15.3
11.7
Total throughput (millions of TEUs)
11.8
13.1
14.2
15.8
15.7
14.3
11.8
14.1
Source SCAG 2011, Table 10, p. 31. Data from Ports of L.A. and LB
5
The Alameda Corridor is a 20 mile freight rail infrastructure connecting the ports of Los
Angeles and Long Beach to intermodal railyards in downtown Los Angeles.
6
These are fiscal years, i.e. from July 1 to June 30.
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