Modernizing Freight Rail Regulation

Modernizing Freight Rail Regulation PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780309369060
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
"TRB Special Report 318: Modernizing Freight Rail Regulation examines the future role of the Surface Transportation Board (STB) in overseeing and regulating the service levels and rate offerings of railroads. This congressionally-requested report recommends approaches to resynchronize a regulatory program that has become outdated. The U.S. freight railroad industry has modernized and has become financially stable since the Staggers Rail Act of 1980, but the study committee finds that some of the industry's economic regulations have not kept pace and should be replaced with practices suited to today's freight rail system. The study committee finds that more appropriate, reliable, and usable procedures are needed for resolving rate disputes. The committee recommends that Congress should prepare to repeal the formula for eligibility for rate relief and should direct the U.S. Department of Transportation to develop a screening tool that compares disputed rates with rates charged in competitive rail markets. Current methods make artificial and arbitrary estimates of the cost of rail shipping. Adjudication can cost millions of dollars, and some cases have taken years to resolve, deterring shippers with smaller claims. Simplified methods that are economically valid and practical have yet to be introduced. The study committee recommends that STB replace hearings on the reasonableness of rates with arbitration hearings that compel faster, more economical resolutions. Merger reviews should be transferred to antitrust agencies, according to the committee, which also recommends that STB collect and analyze shipment-level data on service quality in overseeing the railroads' response to common carrier service obligations."

Modernizing Freight Rail Regulation

Modernizing Freight Rail Regulation PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780309369060
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

Get Book Here

Book Description
"TRB Special Report 318: Modernizing Freight Rail Regulation examines the future role of the Surface Transportation Board (STB) in overseeing and regulating the service levels and rate offerings of railroads. This congressionally-requested report recommends approaches to resynchronize a regulatory program that has become outdated. The U.S. freight railroad industry has modernized and has become financially stable since the Staggers Rail Act of 1980, but the study committee finds that some of the industry's economic regulations have not kept pace and should be replaced with practices suited to today's freight rail system. The study committee finds that more appropriate, reliable, and usable procedures are needed for resolving rate disputes. The committee recommends that Congress should prepare to repeal the formula for eligibility for rate relief and should direct the U.S. Department of Transportation to develop a screening tool that compares disputed rates with rates charged in competitive rail markets. Current methods make artificial and arbitrary estimates of the cost of rail shipping. Adjudication can cost millions of dollars, and some cases have taken years to resolve, deterring shippers with smaller claims. Simplified methods that are economically valid and practical have yet to be introduced. The study committee recommends that STB replace hearings on the reasonableness of rates with arbitration hearings that compel faster, more economical resolutions. Merger reviews should be transferred to antitrust agencies, according to the committee, which also recommends that STB collect and analyze shipment-level data on service quality in overseeing the railroads' response to common carrier service obligations."

U.S. Freight Rail Economics and Policy

U.S. Freight Rail Economics and Policy PDF Author: Jeffrey Macher
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0429633645
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 309

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Book Description
The passage of the Staggers Rail Act in 1980 led brought a renaissance to the freight rail industry. In the decade following, economists documented the effects of the Act on a variety of important economic metrics including prices, costs, and productivity. Over the preceding years, and with the return of the industry to more stable footing, attention to the industry by economists faded. The lack of attention, however, has not been due to a dearth of ongoing economic and policy issues that continue to confront the industry. In this volume, we begin to rectify this inattention. Rather than retread older analyses or provide yet another look at the consequences of Staggers, we assemble a collection of ten chapters in four sections that collectively provide fresh and up-to-date analyses of the economic issues and policy challenges the industry faces: the first section sets the context through foundational discussion of freight rail; the second section highlights the role of freight rail in an increasingly interrelated economy; the third section examines industry structure and scope in freight rail; and the fourth section assesses current regulatory challenges that confront freight rail. This book will be of great value to researchers, academics, policymakers, and students interested in the fields of freight rail economics and policy, transportation, business history, and regulatory economics.

Regulatory Governance of the Rail Sector in Mexico

Regulatory Governance of the Rail Sector in Mexico PDF Author: OECD
Publisher: OECD Publishing
ISBN: 9282189929
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 100

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Book Description
The report provides a description and an assessment of the recent actions carried out by the Mexican government to enhance the quality of regulation and regulatory governance in the rail sector in Mexico.

Transportation Policy and Economic Regulation

Transportation Policy and Economic Regulation PDF Author: John Bitzan
Publisher: Academic Press
ISBN: 0128126213
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 380

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Book Description
Transportation Policy and Economic Regulation: Essays in Honor of Theodore Keeler addresses a number of today's important transportation policy issues, exploring a variety of transportation modes, and examining the policy implications of a number of alternatives. Theodore Keeler had a distinguished career in transportation economics, helping to shape regulatory policies concerning the transportation industries and assessing the appropriateness of various policies. A distinguishing feature of his work is that it always had policy implications. As a tribute to Theodore Keeler, this book examines transportation policy issues across a variety of transportation industries, including aviation, railroads, highways, motor carrier transport, automobiles, urban transit, and ocean shipping. The book evaluates the economic impact and effectiveness of various policies, employing empirical analyses and new estimation techniques, such as Bayesian analysis. The book is designed for transportation professionals and researchers, as well as transportation economics students, providing an in-depth analysis of some of today's important transportation policy issues. Policy changes established in the last 35-40 years have introduced profound changes in the business environment of the transportation industry. Past policy changes promoted the free market's role in setting prices and determining service availability. While 21st century policy has focused on a variety of other issues, such as safety, road and air congestion, productivity growth, labor relations and exhaust emission, many still promote the role of competition. In addition to examining various transportation policy issues in the U.S., the book explores some approaches to dealing with transportation issues in different parts of the world. Contemporary transportation policy debates have broadened from their initial focus of primarily examining the merits of reforming economic regulations at national levels, to now examining a variety of issues such as alternative methods of social regulation (such as safety regulation and emission controls), new approaches to changing economic regulations, the potential for reforming international regulations, and the appropriate role for government in transportation. - Examines transportation policy developments across a variety of modes, including some international analysis - Shows how new policy changes, such as changes in regulation, affect overall transportation system performance - Features chapters that use innovative methodologies, such as Bayesian techniques, qualitative analysis, and an attribute-incorporated Malmquist productivity index - Examines the ways that policy impacts depend on a variety of factors, and shows how economic tools can be used to gain greater insights into the likely impacts of policy and the desirability of various policies - Analyzes transport prices, quality of service, safety, the use of information technology and operating issues, highlighting how transportation enhances quality of life

Fast-Forward

Fast-Forward PDF Author: Richard Hillestad
Publisher: Rand Corporation
ISBN: 0833048996
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 163

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Book Description
Efficient movement of freight within the United States and across its borders is a critical enabler of future U.S. economic growth. The authors provide an overview of the freight-transportation system and the problems it faces, concluding with a discussion of key system-modernization issues, including increasing capacity, making the system less vulnerable to disruption, addressing environmental concerns, and building support for funding.

Surface Transportation Legislation, Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Surface Transportation....

Surface Transportation Legislation, Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Surface Transportation.... PDF Author: United States. Congress. Senate. Commerce
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 1974

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Book Description


Hearings

Hearings PDF Author: United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Commerce
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 1456

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Book Description


Reforming Infrastructure

Reforming Infrastructure PDF Author: Ioannis Nicolaos Kessides
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 328

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Book Description
Electricity, natural gas, telecommunications, railways, and water supply, are often vertically and horizontally integrated state monopolies. This results in weak services, especially in developing and transition economies, and for poor people. Common problems include low productivity, high costs, bad quality, insufficient revenue, and investment shortfalls. Many countries over the past two decades have restructured, privatized and regulated their infrastructure. This report identifies the challenges involved in this massive policy redirection. It also assesses the outcomes of these changes, as well as their distributional consequences for poor households and other disadvantaged groups. It recommends directions for future reforms and research to improve infrastructure performance, identifying pricing policies that strike a balance between economic efficiency and social equity, suggesting rules governing access to bottleneck infrastructure facilities, and proposing ways to increase poor people's access to these crucial services.

The Transportation Research Board, 1920â¬"2020

The Transportation Research Board, 1920⬠Author: Sarah Jo Peterson
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309493749
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 563

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Book Description
In 1920, state highway engineers, federal officials, and experts from academia were among a small group convened by the National Academy of Sciences to confront the problems of the highway. The public was entrusting them with billions of dollars for good roads, and World War I had proved the feasibility of moving freight long distances by truck. But even new highways were crumbling. They turned to research for solutions. The founders of the Transportation Research Board (TRB) and the generations that followed took on problems such as safety, social equity, and environmental issues. They embraced "total transportation," adapting their highway research model to urban transportation and then applying it to rail, marine, and aviation modes. Today TRB convenes thousands of researchers, practitioners, and administrators every year to advise the government, solve practical problems, foster innovation, and stimulate new research. In The Transportation Research Board, 1920â€"2020: Everyone Interested Is Invited, Sarah Jo Peterson tells the story of how people and institutions created and have continued to shape TRB. In a compelling narrative accompanied by more than 150 images exploring the history of transportation and research, she argues that TRB can be best understood as an infrastructureâ€"one that people purposely designed and devotedly maintained. Despite TRB's institutional complexity, its unique mission, the vast collection of acronyms in its orbit, and the significant changes to the organization in its first 100 years, Dr. Peterson provides a view from 30,000 feet, deftly describing the social, political, and economic context in which transportation (and TRB) functioned. At the same time, she attends to details of the key events, individuals, and human motivations that shaped TRB's evolution. The author's skills as a historian, her experience in the transportation field, and her manifest ability to tell a good story have produced a book that transportation professionals of all stripesâ€"and, for that matter, anyone interested in the history of transportation in the United Statesâ€"should find both engaging and informative and an essential addition to their library.

Surface Transportation Legislation

Surface Transportation Legislation PDF Author: United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Commerce. Subcommittee on Surface Transportation
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Federal aid to transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 472

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Book Description