§70202 State Freight Plans

Summary

States that get money under section 167 of title 23 must make a freight plan for both near-term and long-range freight planning and investments. The plan must cover many things, including: major freight trends, needs, and problems; the policies, strategies, and measures that will guide freight spending; any designated multimodal critical rural freight facilities or critical rural and urban freight corridors (when applicable); how the plan helps meet the national freight goals (see section 70101(b)) and the national highway freight program goals (section 167 of title 23); how new technologies and operations were considered; fixes for roads expected to be damaged by heavy vehicles; an inventory of bottlenecks and ports and how the State will address them; congestion causes and solutions; a freight investment plan with priority projects and how funds under section 167 would be used and matched (only listing projects if funding can reasonably be expected); the latest truck parking assessment; recent cargo flow data by mode; any multi-State compact findings (if applicable); impacts of e-commerce and military freight; steps to reduce harm from extreme weather, air pollution, flooding/stormwater, and habitat loss; and consultation with a State freight advisory committee if one exists. The plan must look ahead 8 years and must be updated at least once every 4 years, though the investment part can be updated more often. As part of making or updating the plan, the State must do a truck parking assessment with motor carrier safety staff that checks the State’s and private sector’s ability to provide parking and rest areas, measures truck traffic volume, and finds areas with parking shortages and why they exist. The plan must require actions that improve freight reliability or let freight service be quickly restored after problems. The Secretary of Transportation will approve the plan if it meets these requirements.