Agricultural Freight: Network Access and Issues (Part 1)

The modeling framework and tools under development throughout Signature Project 1 focus on informing policy related to passenger transportation. Yet, the concept of evaluating transportation in light of environmental impacts and resiliency to disruption applies equally well to freight transportation. In a state where agriculture is one of the largest sectors of the economy, contributing about a half billion dollars in gross receipts annually (USDA ERS, 2006), and is important for attracting tourists who bring another $20 million (USDA NASS, 2004) to the state each year, agricultural freight deserves attention. Because the majority of agricultural freight transportation in Chittenden County either originates or has destinations outside of the county, it is not appropriate to model within the closed-system model used for passenger transportation. However, by gaining a better understanding of agricultural freight networks within Vermont, modelers and planners will have a more complete picture of the transportation network under study. The issues related to agricultural freight, including potential impacts on road surface integrity, air and environmental quality need to be better understood before models can be extended or developed for this context. This project will describe how milk moves from farms to first collection points or processing plants and analyze the robustness of the road networks carrying this agricultural freight. This information will be useful to public and private sector entities concerned with how transportation relates to sustainable agriculture.

• Record URL:
  http://www.uvm.edu/trc/university-transportation-center/utc-current-project-list/agricultural-freight-network-access-and-issues/
• Supplemental Notes:
  • http://www.uvm.edu/~transctr/trc_reports/UVM-TRC-11-006.pdf

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Completed
• Funding: $11159.00
• Contract Numbers:

  DTRT06-G-0018

  022030

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Research and Innovative Technology Administration

  University Transportation Centers Program
  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Project Managers:

  Troy, Austin

  Aultman-Hall, Lisa

• Performing Organizations:

  UVM Transportation Center

  University of Vermont
  210 Colchester Avenue
  Burlington, VT  United States  05405
• Principal Investigators:

  Smith, Julie

• Start Date: 20070401
• Expected Completion Date: 0
• Actual Completion Date: 20110630
• Source Data: RiP Project 26421

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Accessibility; Agricultural products; Environmental impacts; Farm roads; Freight transportation; Origin and destination
• Geographic Terms: Chittenden County (Vermont)
• Subject Areas: Freight Transportation; Security and Emergencies;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01569178
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: UVM Transportation Center
• Contract Numbers: DTRT06-G-0018, 022030
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: Jul 2 2015 1:00AM