The United States has prepared a national strategic plan for the development of the country’s freight transport for the first time in the history of the country
The US Department of Transportation has released the first-ever National Strategic Roadmap for Freight Transport, which outlines the main areas of long-term investment in infrastructure, human resources and other important components of this sector of the economy.
Within the framework of this plan, three main goals are identified, each of which, in turn, is complemented by strategic objectives.
The first goal – to improve the safety, security and reliability of the national freight transport network – provides for solving such tasks as supporting the implementation of automation systems, modernizing control and safety procedures, minimizing the impact of failures and the human factor on the safety of freight traffic, eliminating conflicts between freight and passenger traffic, as well as protection from natural disasters.
The second goal is to modernize freight transport infrastructure and operating standards to maintain economic growth, competitiveness and improve the quality of life. In particular, it provides for targeted financing of projects to increase carrying capacity, improve planning, priority promotion of projects in the field of multimodal communications, create conditions for the accelerated promotion of freight flows in the places of their origin and repayment, development of a methodology for identifying bottlenecks in various modes of transport, stimulating employment growth, and competitiveness of enterprises in rural areas and cities, etc.
The third goal is to support innovation and digital technologies, including communication systems between vehicles and other infrastructure objects (V2X), the use of systems with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAS), and revision of regulatory requirements to improve manageability, efficiency and competitiveness.
In addition, tasks are set to improve databases, modeling and analytics tools, deepen the professional skills of employees, improve R&D funding, as well as improve the regulatory framework that promotes innovation.
Noting the importance of the freight transportation sector, the US Department of Transportation noted that about 46 million tons of cargo and energy are transported every day by all modes of transport in the country with a total value of almost 52 billion US dollars (photo: US Department of Transportation).
