California roads and highways carry more truck traffic than any other state in the nation, according to a new study from The Road Information Program (TRIP),
a national transportation nonprofit research organization based in Washington, D.C.
Truck travel is expected to grow 50% by the year 2020.
"Unless something is done to accommodate this unprecedented growth in truck traffic, safety will decrease and congestion will increase throughout the state, and that will have an enormous impact on motorists as well as businesses in California," said Bert Sandman, chairman of Transportation California, a statewide coalition representing contractors, businesses and construction labor unions.
Today, more than 15 billion tons of goods, worth over $92 trillion, are moved annually in the U.S. -- the equivalent of 310 pounds of freight daily for each U.S. resident.
The largest share of the nation's freight is moved by trucks – 71% of all tonnage and 80% of total value of all U.S. shipments. California roadways carry 1.324 billion tons, or 12.4% of the nation's freight.
Allan Zaremberg, president of the California Chamber of Commerce, said NAFTA and Pacific Rim trade have had a significant impact in volumes of goods moving through California seaports and border crossings, and new ways of doing business have created mobile inventories.
"A safe and healthy highway system is vital to the California economy," Zaremberg said. "The quality of a region's transportation system is essential for California businesses to compete locally, nationally and internationally."
California has the most congested roads in the country. The bulk of that congestion is in Los Angeles, the Bay Area, and San Diego -- the state's largest commercial centers and ports of entry. The Federal Highway Administration estimates that 46% of the nation's urban major highways will be congested during peak periods by 2020, compared with 28% in 1998. By contrast, in 1998, more than 50% of California's urban highways were already congested.
But California's growth pattern over the next 20 years is statewide, not just in urban areas, said Sandman. Some parts of the state, notably Central California and the Sierra foothills, are projected to grow by more than 50%. "Rural roads in those areas are not designed to handle that much traffic. The safety implications of adding significantly more truck traffic are staggering," Sandman said.
Traffic accidents involving large trucks are responsible for one out of eight (12.5%) traffic fatalities nationally. Accidents involving large trucks are more likely to result in fatalities than accidents between other vehicles. There were 210,174 traffic fatalities between 1998 and 2002. In those years, 26,055 people were killed in crashes involving large trucks; 1,855 of those deaths were in California. California is second to Texas in the number of annual fatalities.
The fatalities in those crashes are more likely to be occupants of passenger vehicles. Of those 1,855 deaths, 281 were truck occupants and 1,574 (85%) were in other vehicles. Nearly three-quarters of those fatal crashes were caused by passenger vehicle driver error, not by the truck driver.
"The weak point in the system for safety is our rural roads," said Sandman.
The TRIP report shows that approximately two-thirds of fatalities from crashes involving large trucks occur on rural roads. And the most likely cause of such accidents: a passenger vehicle having entered the oncoming lane.
"California is facing enormous challenges of accommodating the increase in freight movement while maintaining mobility and safety in urban as well as rural areas," said Jim Waltze, president of Griffith Co., headquartered in Santa Fe Springs, and president-elect of the Associated General Contractors of America. "The establishment of a national freight policy to guide the improvement of the nation's freight transportation system would allow the U.S. to safely and efficiently accommodate future growth in freight movement," Waltze said.
The long-term reauthorization of federal surface transportation legislation offers an opportunity for a significant increase in funding for improvements that would help safely accommodate the anticipated growth in trucking. The current bill expires Feb. 29.
Three reauthorization proposals are being considered. The Bush Administration calls for $247 billion in spending over six years. The Senate bill sets spending at $311 billion. The House bill is for $375 billion and includes $1.5 billion for added truck lanes on key highways, $3 billion to improve road connections to and from vital air, rail and water ports and $1.5 billion for safety improvements on rural roads.
California, Zaremberg says, deserves its fair share of transportation dollars. "California is a point of entry to the entire United States. That makes our highway transportation and funding a federal issue," he said.
"A significant increase in federal highway funding would allow states to undertake numerous projects that would improve the reliability and safety of trucking," Waltze said.