MOBILE MOVES FREIGHT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nationally, the east - west transportation corridors linking west coast ports with the interior U. S. have experienced dramatic growth rates in freight over the past few decades as Pacific Rim markets have matured. However, since mid 1990’s NAFTA has fostered increased emphasis on north – south traffic as well. The widening of the Panama Canal in the next several years will further expose the Gulf of Mexico Ports to more, larger ocean vessels which no longer will have to experience long delays to berth at West Coast Ports. Simply stated, our surface transportation network has not increased at a rate commensurate with growth in freight and passenger traffic. This is true at our local level also.

The fact that the growth rate in freight transportation traffic is generally greater than passenger traffic is especially true in the Mobile MPO area. Early in 2008 Moody’s rated Mobile County as the number 1 fastest growing economy among all 363 metropolitan areas in the nation. From 2007 through 2012 Mobile County’s economy is estimated to grow over 34%.

While new industries like Thyssen Krupp, Berg Steel, the Choctaw Point Container Facility, and possibly the Northrup Grumman/EADS assembly plant are coming to Mobile, most growth in Mobile’s freight still will come from industries and companies already in and expanding in our area. Ship building and the oil & gas associated industries’ continued growth remain as drivers of our economy as well.

Coupled with the fact that traditional Travel Demand Forecasting uses only estimates for freight, our overall transportation infrastructure planning and tools must keep pace with our new realities. Freight planning historically, at least for medium sized MPO’s like Mobile, has used data analysis including employment numbers and trend forecasting that assumes trends from the past will continue in the future.

Recognizing that the efficient movement of freight is vital to the growth of Mobile’s economy and further recognizing that our area must provide for superior freight distribution and not become a freight chokepoint, the Transportation Department of the South Alabama Regional Planning Commission (SARPC) is developing bold, new planning tools to better recognize, understand, track, and predict freight movement in Mobile. In partnership with the University of Alabama Huntsville, who recently completed a statewide freight study for ALDOT, SARPC will have freight layered into our existing Long Range Plan, giving us a single, comprehensive, multi-dimensional, multi-modal, and predictive tool for transportation infrastructure planning. Capable of conducting discrete freight event simulations, this tool will be the first of its kind in Alabama. Given that Mobile has excellent transportation flexibility, it is essential that our freight planning tools take into account rail, truck, air, water borne, and multi modal freight components.

Mobile’s business community and industries are diverse as shown below. The infrastructure to support them is diverse as well.

Largest Manufacturing Employers

Company	Product	Employees
ThyssenKrupp (opens in 2010)	Steel	2,700
St Mobile Aerospace Engineering	Aircraft Refurbishing	1,500
Austal USA	Shipbuilding	1,100
Atlantic Marine	Ship Repair	765
Bender Shipbuilding & Repair	Shipbuilding & Repair	750
Kimberly-Clark Corporation	Paper Products	700
Evonik Degussa	Chemicals	670
Ciba Corp.	Chemicals	635
Press-Register Inc.	Newspaper Publishing	548
Teledyne Continental Motors	Aircraft Engines	470
SSAB Alabama Inc.	Steel	400

Source: Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce

Largest Non-Manufacturing Employers

Company	Product/Service	Employees
Mobile County Public School System	Education	8,110
Mobile Infirmary Medical Center	Medical	5,800
University of South Alabama and USA Medical Facilities	Education/Medical	5,000
Wal-Mart	Retail	3,000
City of Mobile	Government	2,400
Providence Hospital	Medical	2,342
County of Mobile	Government	1,900
Springhill Medical Center	Medical	1,410
Regions Bank	Financial	915
CPSI	Information	877
U.S. Coast Guard	Government	775

Source: Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce