§70202 State freight plans

Summary

States that get federal freight money must create a statewide freight plan for near-term and long-term freight planning and investments. The plan must say what big freight trends, needs, and problems exist, what policies, strategies, and ways to measure performance will guide investments, and a list of priority projects with an explanation of how federal freight funds would be spent and matched. When relevant, the plan must list critical rural freight facilities and corridors and include the latest assessment of commercial truck parking and rest needs, recent cargo flow data by travel mode, an inventory of commercial ports, and any findings from multi-State freight groups. The plan must describe how it will meet national freight goals, how it considered new technologies and operations that improve safety and efficiency, how to fix roads that heavy vehicles will damage, where freight causes bottlenecks or congestion and how to ease them, the effects of e-commerce and military freight, and strategies to reduce damage from extreme weather, air pollution, flooding, and wildlife loss. The State should consult its freight advisory committee if it has one. The plan can be its own document or part of the State long-range transportation plan. It must cover an 8-year forecast period. The State must update the plan at least once every 4 years, though the investment list can be updated more often. A project can be listed only if money to finish it is reasonably likely within the plan’s time frame. The U.S. Secretary of Transportation must approve the plan if it meets these rules.