Marine Transportation System Performance Measures

Executive Summary

U.S. Committee on the Marine Transportation System

Office of the Executive Secretariat
1200 New Jersey Ave SE. Washington, D.C. 20590
Prepared by The CMTS Research and Development Integrated Action Team

Contributors & Editors

M. Kress, N. Mitchell, P. DiJoseph, J.S. Rainey, M. Chambers, J. Hsieh, W.J. Lillycrop, M.
Boatman, N. Comeaux, R. Endorf, P. Mutschler, H. Brohl

Description
This document summarizes the work in the technical report Marine Transportation System Performance
Measures Research published by the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center as well as
ongoing efforts in marine transportation system performance measures research being carried out
through the work of the CMTS Research & Development Integrated Action Team. Full technical report
available at: http://www.erdc.usace.army.mil/Library.aspx

This document should be cited as follows

U.S. Committee on the Marine Transportation System, Research and Development Integrated Action
Team. 2015. Marine Transportation System Performance Measures: Executive Summary. 29 pages.
Washington, D.C. Available at: www.cmts.gov

Contents
Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 3
Purpose ................................................................................................................................................. 3
MTS Performance Categories and Measures ............................................................................................... 4
Definition of Performance Measure ............................................................................................................. 6
The MTS as Part of the Intermodal Freight System .............................................................................. 7
MTS Performance Measures By Category .................................................................................................... 9
Vessel Travel Time Statistics – Dwell time example ................................................................................... 24
Summary and Recommendations ............................................................................................................... 25
References .................................................................................................................................................. 26
 3

Introduction
The United States Marine Transportation System
(MTS) encompasses the nation’s navigable waterways;
the infrastructure that facilitates the movement of
people and goods to, from, and on these waterways;
and the users themselves. The MTS includes
navigable channels, rivers and lakes; waterside
features including marinas; commercial ports; and
infrastructure including navigation locks.1 As part of a
larger multi-modal transportation system, the MTS is
connected to landside features such as docks,
terminals, roads and railways.1

The MTS is a physically expansive system, connecting inland ports in America’s center with coastal areas
ports and the rest of the world through approximately 25,000 miles of commercially navigable channels,
hundreds of ports, and associated inland infrastructure.2 Government and non-government interest in
understanding the MTS has put a premium on the ability to gather relevant data, produce maps showing
where issues intersect, develop computational models, and use these tools to develop solutions to
transportation challenges.

Purpose
This document summarizes an initial group of MTS performance measures developed from publicly
available data sources and presented together for the first time. Each performance measure is
accompanied by a graphic showing historical change or current status of the measure. An interpretation of
the measures in category is provided at the end of each section. The utility of individual performance
measures will depend upon the questions being asked by MTS stakeholders. Recognizing that these
questions may change over time, this ongoing research project has the ability to develop new measures
where data is available and suggest strategies for developing other measures where data exists but is not
yet accessible. Taken together, these measures begin to tell the story of overall MTS performance.

This report has created an initial picture of the overall state of the MTS using authoritative data from
Federal sources. The results presented show historical changes in diverse areas ranging from industry
pricing to vessel accidents to environmental interactions. Performance in some areas appears to be
improving or holding steady, other areas show a mismatch between available resources and current needs.
This executive summary and the accompanying technical rport should serve to stimulate and inform a
dialogue about the state of the MTS, identify areas where more information is needed, and suggest ways to
improve MTS performance within an intermodal system.
 4

MTS Performance Categories and Measures

The categories used to group performance measures together for this project area:

 Economic Benefits to the Nation

 Capacity and Reliability
 Safety and Security
 Environmental Stewardship
 Resilience

Specific measures are listed under each category below. These measures should be regarded as preliminary
products of ongoing research and are open to further refinement. This research is part of a larger effort
that will ultimately include network modeling and scenario exploration.

Economic Benefits to the Nation

 Total value and tonnage of international trade moved by MTS
 Income and disbursement of Harbor Maintenance and Inland Waterways Trust Funds
 Producer Price Index for Transportation Industries
 Direct employment in MTS industries for the ten states with the highest reported MTS employment
 Inland waterway shipping barge freight rates
Capacity and Reliability
 Navigation lock closures, hours and number of closures, unscheduled and scheduled
 High tonnage channels with NOAA PORTS® instrumentation
 Travel time estimates for key waterway segments
Safety and Security
• Number of commercial vessel accidents (collisions, allisions, groundings)
• Number of commercial mariner and passenger casualties (personal injuries, deaths)
• Number of U.S. Coast Guard incident investigations
Environmental Stewardship
• U.S. petroleum-based fuel sales to the maritime industry (diesel fuel, residual fuel)
• Vessel pollution incidents (petroleum and other types)
• Amount of dredged material reclaimed for beneficial use
• Number of reported whale strikes by vessels
Resilience
 Physical condition ratings of critical coastal navigation infrastructure
 Age of federally owned and operated navigation locks

a
This work builds upon previous work done by the World Association for Waterborne Transport Infrastructure
(PIANC). The PIANC report, Performance Measures for Inland Waterways Transport, identifies three general purposes
for performance measures (operational, informational, referential) and nine thematic areas (infrastructure, ports,
environment, fleet and vehicles, cargo and passengers, information and communication, economic development,
3
safety, and security).
 5

The combination of institutional knowledge along with technologies in real-time and remote monitoring
offers opportunities to identify system inefficiencies and potential improvements and make strategic
investments to enhance MTS performance. Federal agencies, including those that might not see
themselves as ‘basic science’ agencies or producers of basic research, may benefit from the recognizing
that availability of raw material, in the form of extensive data, can place them at the forefront of systems
operation research and/or applications. However, an emphasis on enhanced sharing and inter-operability
of data is essential.

The very act of gathering, synthesizing, and analyzing such information and relating it to
performance should prompt more critical thinking about the scope and effect of Federal
involvement in the MTS.44

- Committee for a Study of the Federal Role in the Marine Transportation System, Transportation
Research Board of the National Academies.
 6

Definition of Performance Measure

Measures, indicators, metrics – these words are often used
interchangeably, but the desired result is the same, to
understand how elements are functioning within a larger
Marine transportation
complex system such as an international supply chainb.
system performance
Performance measurement is a process to evaluate the
measures, key elements:
relationship between inputs and outputs within the structure
of a specific system and subsequently identify areas of  Performance goal
possible improvement. Brydia et al. (2007) stated that well-
 Quantifiable
designed performance measures should be the following 6: measure that relates
 Reflective of the end result, the measure should help to goal
determine if a goal is being met  Authoritative data
 Simple, understandable, unambiguous, accepted and used to calculate
meaningful to the customer measure of interest
 Responsive or sensitive to the data being measured Measurement should be
 Appropriate temporal and geographic scales based on data that is
collected regularly over
An ideal MTS performance measure would be collected
time, this allows for
locally, using the same method across all areas of
transparent analysis of
responsibility, so that state, regional, and national summaries
progress towards goals.
could be easily compiled for comparison.

It is important to distinguish between output measures and

outcome-based measures. Output-based measures identify
information about the use of resources.6 Examples of MTS related output measures could include number
of containers loaded and unloaded at a port, amount of sediment removed from a channel, or vessel
inspections completed by regulators. Outcome-based measures identify how well an organization is
meeting stated goals and objectives; these types of measures are often more relevant to the general
public.6 Examples of MTS outcome-based measures include number of vessel accidents, average tons per
vessel transported (through a channel), and average travel time between two ports. Both output and
outcome-based measures are necessary to evaluate a system; they work in tandem to support analysis of
how a system’s structure is contributing to its functional goals.

b
Transport Canada, the Federal Canadian transportation agency, has developed a data-sharing partnership between
the Canadian Government and private sector freight carriers to report transit times for different modal segments
4
(ocean voyage, port dwell time, drayage, truck transit, rail transit, shipment via inland waterways). Performance is
measured as the time it takes a shipping container to complete each pre-defined segment of the journey, known as a
‘fluidity’ measure. These data are being used by Canadian provincial governments to identify specific delay points,
5
such as on-grade road and rail crossings, for investments to upgrade infrastructure.
 7

Output and outcome measures can serve more than one purpose depending on the user group. Measures
that can be used for multiple purposes should take a higher priority. For example, ‘fuel use’ is a single
performance measure with relevance for operations (cost of running equipment), information (air
emissions associated with operationsc), while also serving a reference purposes (tracking demand changes
over time). This example demonstrates how a single measure can be both output-related and outcome-
related depending on the context and question of interest. Performance data for historical and current
operating conditions is key for developing a commonly shared baseline picture of the MTS.

The MTS as Part of the Intermodal Freight System

The MTS is part of a much larger intermodal, and interconnected freight system, so performance measures
which can translate across transportation modes will be most useful. Current Federal infrastructure
funding and programmatic implementation processes are not organized to consider multiple modes at
once. The importance of intermodal considerations is evident from the growth in intermodal shipments as
reported by the Intermodal Association of North America, shown in Figure 1.8

Total Intermodal Freight* Loadings, 2000 - 2013

18
Number of Intermodal Shipments

16
14
12
10
(millions )

8
6
4
2
0

Source: Intermodal Association of North America (IANA)

Year *Intermodal freight includes rail, truck, and water shipments
inside or between USA and Canada, as reported by IANA partners

Figure 1. North American Intermodal Freight Loadings 2000-2013.

c
Stakeholders need reliable data to craft effective solutions to improve MTS performance. For example, MTS
stakeholders in Houston, TX worked together to secure Federal funding to replace commercial tugboat engines with
7
newer engines that significantly reduce diesel emissions. Replacing engines instead of rebuilding them allowed for
the incorporation of new emission control technology. Achieving this success required trusted data on vessel age,
engine age and type, vessel fuel use, engine emissions, grant funding opportunities, and waterway use patterns for
7
vessels in the Houston area. Partners included the Houston-Galveston Are Council, Port of Houston Authority,
multiple towing companies, and the Environmental Defense Fund. Replicating this kind of success requires mutually
trusted data and dedicated partnerships.
 8

Several high profile supply chain disruptions in 2011 (notably the inland flooding in Thailand and tsunami
with resulting power outages in Japan) focused a spotlight on the complex interdependencies of global
supply chains and the need to improve the resiliency of these supply chains and the associated freight
networks on which global and domestic commerce depends.9; 10 This renewed focus on the intermodal
freight system and the smooth functioning of supply chains lends support for the development of MTS
performance measures.

Performance Measurement Benefits From Open Data

Ready access to data is vital for accurate performance measures across a system as complex as the MTS.
For Federal agencies with a role in the MTS, making data available is simply the first step in contributing to
a truly transparent evaluation process. Presidential Executive Order 13642 released in 2013 directs offices
in the Executive Branch to make open data and machine readable data the new default for government
information.11 ‘Open data’ is the practice of regularly releasing data in widely accessible file formats
through a website. Machine readable data refers to specific computer file formats used in conjunction with
web services. Machine readable data is essential for projects that use automation for processing large
amounts of data. Promoting open and machine readable data across Federal agencies will enhance the
ability to develop targeted performance measures over time. By plugging in to the different streams of
information which will flow into the public domain as a regular part of agency missions, there will be
greater opportunity to combine disparate types of data to increase their informational power.

Performance indicators help participants to understand strengths and weaknesses within their
organizations and institutions. They also help assist in identifying measures that can be
implemented to counteract undesirable developments.

- PIANC Inland Navigation Commission, Working Group 32

 9

MTS Performance Measures By Category

Economic Benefits to the Nation
Total Value and Tonnage of International Trade Moved by the MTS

U.S. International Merchandise Trade (Billions of Dollars) by Transportation Mode: 2012

4000
Billions of U.S. Dollars

Other and
3500
unknown
3000 Pipeline
2500
Rail
2000
1500 Truck

1000 Air
500
0
Total trade Exports Imports
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Foreign Trade Division; U.S. Dept of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics

Figure 2. U.S. International Merchandise Trade (Billions of Dollars) by Transportation Mode: 2012. Source:
U.S. Census Bureau, Foreign Trade Division and U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of
Transportation Statistics. In 2012 almost 47% of U.S. international trade value moved via water.12

U.S. International Merchandise Trade (Millions of Short Tons) by Transportation Mode: 2012
2000
Other and
1600
Millions of Short Tons

unknown
Pipeline
1200
Rail
800 Truck

400 Air

Water
0
Total trade Exports Imports
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Foreign Trade Division and U.S. Department of Transportation,
Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Note: 1 short ton = 2,000 pounds.

Figure 3. U.S. International Merchandise Trade (Millions of Short Tons) by Transportation Mode: 2012.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Foreign Trade Division and U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of
Transportation Statistics. In 2012 over 73% of total U.S. international trade tonnage moved by water.13
 10

U.S. Export and Import Value Transported via Water: 2007-2013

U.S. Export and Import Value Transported via Water: 2007-2013

$1,400,000
$1,200,000
Millions of U.S. Dollars

$1,000,000
$800,000
$600,000
$400,000
$200,000 Exports Imports
$0
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce; U.S. Census Bureau; Foreign Trade Division; FT920 - U.S.
Merchandise Trade: Selected Highlights (annual issues); tables 1, 4, or 6.
Figure 4. U.S. Export and Import Value Transported by Vessel: 2007-2013. Source: U.S. Department of
Commerce; U.S. Census Bureau. The value of imports and exports moved by water has surpassed pre-
recession levels.

U.S. Export and Import Shipping Weight Transported via Water: 2007-2013

U.S. Export and Import Shipping Weight Transported via Water: 2007-2013
1,000,000
900,000
Millions of Kilograms

800,000
700,000
600,000
500,000
400,000
300,000
200,000 Exports Imports
100,000
0
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Source: U.S. Department of Commerce; U.S. Census Bureau; Foreign Trade Division; FT920 - U.S.
Merchandise Trade: Selected Highlights (annual issues); tables 1, 4, or 6

Figure 5. U.S. Export and Import Value and Shipping Weight Transported by Vessel: 2007-2013. Source:
U.S. Department of Commerce; U.S. Census Bureau; Foreign Trade Division; FT920 - U.S. Merchandise
Trade: Selected Highlights (annual issues); tables 1, 4, or 6.14
 11

Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund

Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund, Revenues and Disbursements FY 1988-2014

1,800,000,000
1,600,000,000 Total Revenues
1,400,000,000 Total Disbursements
1,200,000,000
U.S. Dollars

1,000,000,000
800,000,000
600,000,000
400,000,000
200,000,000
0
1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014
Fiscal Year Sources: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,U.S. Department of the Treasury

Figure 6. Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund Revenues and Disbursements, Fiscal Years 1988-2014. Source:
U.S. Department of the Treasury. Monies from the HMTF are available to reimburse eligible operations and
maintenance expenses associated with commercial navigation infrastructure maintenance and channel
dredging, except along fuel taxed inland waterways.15

Inland Waterways Trust Fund

Inland Waterways Trust Fund, Revenues and Disbursements FY 2001-2014

250,000,000
Total Revenues
200,000,000 Total Disbursements
U.S. Dollars

150,000,000

100,000,000

50,000,000

Fiscal Year Source: U.S. Department of the Treasury

Figure 7. Inland Waterways Trust Fund, Total Revenues and Disbursements, Fiscal Years 2001- 2014.
Source: U.S. Department of the Treasury. Between 2002 and 2009 disbursements from the IWTF exceeded
revenues.16
 12

Producer Price Index (measuring average change in the selling price of services)

Producer Price Index for Transportation Industries, January 2004 - May 2013
255 Air transportation
235 Pipeline transportation of crude oil
Rail Transportation
215 Truck Transportation
Water transportation
195
175
Index

155
135
115
95 The PPI measures the average change over time in the selling prices received by domestic producers.
75

Month-Year Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics

Figure 8. Producer Price Index (PPI) for Transportation Industries (air, water, truck, rail, pipeline) from
January 2005 to May 2014. Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.17 PPI for water
transportation services has not increased as fast as other modes over the past ten years. Note: The PPI
compares changes in prices over time, not actual dollar value.

Direct Employment in MTS Industries for the Ten States with the Highest Reported MTS Employment

Employment in select U.S. States and MTS Industries, 1st Quarter, 2000 - 2012
45,000
Number people employed

40,000
35,000
30,000
25,000
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000
0
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Year Louisiana California Florida Washington Texas
New Jersey Tennessee Georgia Indiana Alabama
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Quarterly Workforce Indicators

Figure 9. Employment in selected U.S. states and MTS Industries, first quarter of the year 2000 to 2012.
Data source: U.S. Census Bureau, Quarterly Workforce Indicators. Data aggregated from individual state
totals voluntarily reported for jobs in North American Industry Classes 3366, 4831, 4832, 4872, and 4883.
These totals do not include employment categories such as heavy construction or marine insurance
carriers.
 13

Inland Waterway Shipping Barge Freight Rates

Weekly Barge Spot Rates, Average Index Change, Spring 2005 - Summer 2014
1200
Tariff Change from Benchmark

Average Change From 1976 Index Tariff

1000
(includes all benchmark rate ports)
800

600

400

200

Week Source: USDA, Agricultural Marketing Service. Grain Transportation Report.

Figure 10. Change in Weekly Barge Spot Freight Rates (1976 = baseline tariff), for southbound shipments
originating along the Mississippi River, Spring 2005 to Summer 2014. Source: U.S. Department of
Agriculture. Benchmark rate ports encompass regions around St. Paul, MN; Rock Island, IL; St. Louis, MO;
Meredosia, IL; Cincinnati, OH; Louisville, KY; and Cairo, IL.18 Rates are higher during peak agricultural
harvest times in the Midwest, but seasonal price shifts have been less dramatic in recent years.

Interpretation of Economic Benefits to the Nation Measures

The MTS provide significant benefits to the nation as conduit for international trade (see Figures 2-5), and
as a low-cost long haul transportation mode for domestic freight including energy commodities. The value
of exports and imports transported via water every year totals hundreds of billions of dollars and forms the
cornerstone of U.S. international trade.14 Since 1988 there has been an approximate eight-fold increase in
annual revenues collected by the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund, indicating an expansion in trade or an
increase in the value of goods moving through harbors subject to the tax that funds the HMTF (see Figure
6).28 Revenues from the Inland Waterways Trust Fund have not matched disbursements for most of the
past decade (see Figure 7), indicating that needs are greater than available funds.

When compared to prices for other modes used for long-distance and bulk freight transportation,
waterborne transportation has exhibited price stability comparable to truck transport over the past decade
(see Figure 8).17 Changes in fuel prices affect all freight transportation modes, but there has been an
overall decline in U.S. marine fuel sales since a high point in the late 1990s that is not associated with a
concurrent decline in trade volume or value (see Figure 17).14; 24 While efficiencies of modern vessels and
available capacity may have contributed to this decline, it is also possible that ships are buying fuel
overseas in response to global price signals. Agricultural commodity exporters are significant users of the
MTS, using barge services to ship their commodities along inland waterways to deep-draft coastal ports.
While seasonal swings in barge freight rates are expected due to the increased demand during harvest
time, the difference in the index highs and lows has decreased in recent years (see Figure 10).
 14

Capacity and Reliability Performance Measures

Unscheduled and Scheduled Lock Downtime

Number of Navigation Lock Closures, Scheduled and Unscheduled, 1993-2013

20,000
Unscheduled Closures
Number of Lock Closures

18,000
16,000 Scheduled Closures
14,000
12,000
10,000
8,000
6,000
4,000
2,000
0

Calendar Year Source: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Figure 11. Number of navigation lock closures, scheduled and unscheduled, 1993-2013. Source: U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers.19 Scheduled lock closures are advertised in advance, unscheduled closures can result
from accidents, weather, or emergency maintenance.

Hours of Navigation Lock Closures

Hours of Navigation Lock Closures 2001 -2013, Inland Waterway Tonnage 2001-2012.
200,000
Inland Tonnage (div by 10,000)
Hours of Lock Closures and

180,000
160,000
140,000
120,000
100,000
80,000
60,000 Unscheduled Unavailable Time (Hours)
40,000 Scheduled Unavailable Time (Hours)
20,000 Inland Waterway Tonnage (Divided by 10,000)
0
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Calendar Year Source: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Figure 12. Hours of navigation lock closures, scheduled and unscheduled, 2001 - 2013, and annual inland
waterway tonnage (divided by 10,000) from 2001-2012. Source: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Inland
Waterway Tonnage defined as having an origin or destination in one or more of the following regions :
Upper Mississippi River; Lower Upper Mississippi River; Lower Mississippi: Cairo, IL - Baton Rouge, LA;
Lower Mississippi: Baton Rouge, LA - Gulf of Mexico; Illinois Waterway; Missouri River; Ohio River System
Tennessee River; Arkansas River; Mobile River & Tributaries; Great Lakes System;
Columbia/Snake/Willamette Rivers.19; 20
 15

High Tonnage Channels with NOAA Physical Oceanographic Real-Time (PORTS®) Instrumentation21

Figure 13. High tonnage navigation channels with NOAA PORTS®d instrumentation. Source: National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The locations on this map handle
~95% of tonnage moving through federally authorized channels ever year, over half of these locations have
some level of NOAA PORTS® instrumentation installed.

Travel Time Estimates For Select Waterway Segments

Table 1. Travel time estimates for origin and destination pairs along the Ohio River in 2013.
Source: Calculated using archived 2013 AIS data from U.S. Coast Guard.
DESTINATIONS
Travel Time (Hours)
Cincinnati,
Evansville,

Louisville,
Cairo, IL

25th percentile
OH
KY
IL

50th percentile
75th percentile

30.1 69.3 95.7

Cairo, IL 36.9 84.1 115.9
50.2 109.9 149.8
21.4 33.5 59.9
Evansville, IL 25.9 40.3 72.1
ORIGINS

38.6 50.6 90.6

47.1 22.2 21.5
Louisville, KY 56.0 25.8 28.1
78.5 32.7 32.4
65.3 40.4 14.8
Cincinnati, OH 77.4 47.3 19.0
108.8 62.9 24.5

d
NOAA Physical Oceanographic Real-Time System (PORTS®) is a decision support tool that integrates forecasts and
real-time environmental observations (e.g., winds, atmospheric pressure) for improved maritime situational
awareness. Instrumentation and sensor packages vary by location, http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/ports.html
 16

Table 1 displays travel time estimates between points of interest, such as port pairs or river locks, in a trip
table format like those used for other transport modes. Work is underway to develop these tables for the
entire MTS, including the inland navigable waterways, the Great Lakes and coastal ports, for multiple years.
Having this historical reference available will assist in the examination of impacts from events (e.g.
drought/flood, unscheduled lock closures) that disrupt commercial traffic movements along major
waterway corridors. Vessel movements in the time around an event can be analyzed to determine their
variation from the expected average travel time, the potential significance of that variation, and long-term
changes in baseline travel times.

Interpretation of Capacity and Reliability Measures

Investments in landside port infrastructure are largely driven by private investors or individual states using
market-based information about current capacity and forecasts of future demand. Public roadway
infrastructure investments made at the state level may affect supply chains that cross state lines. In light of
this interconnectedness, the USDOT is encouraging states to develop freight plans to better incorporate
freight-specific needs into the transportation planning process.29 While there appears to be available
capacity within the maritime side of freight transport, the ability to fully utilize on-water navigation
capacity is tied to existing landside capacities which may be limited at ports or other intermodal exchanges.
In support of navigation safety, which is closely connected to reliability, over half of the 59 high tonnage
areas (port areas that as a group carry 95% of total tonnage) have some type of NOAA PORTS®
instrumentation installed to improve situational awareness for mariners (see Figure 13).21

On inland waterways, the ability of vessels to engage in long-distance transportation is heavily dependent
upon navigation locks; locks which have seen an overall increase in the cumulative duration of closures and
the number of closure events over the past decade (see Figures 11 and 12). Unscheduled closures of
navigation locks are considered more economically disruptive because they reduce or eliminate the
response time available to commercial users. Estimating the immediate cost from a single closure at a
specific lock would depend on multiple factors such as time of year, duration of closure, and number of
shipments delayed. Since 2001 total inland waterway tonnage has varied between 1.2 billion to 1.4 billion
tons per year, indicating a steady demand for this mode of transport.20 There is uncertainty over the scale
of future maintenance needs for inland navigation infrastructure, while the number of lock closures
fluctuates from year to year, any single year from 2000 -2013 had more total closures than any single year
from 1993 – 1999 (see Figure 11), indicating increased maintenance needs. Analysis on the extent and
recurrence of vessel congestion is part of ongoing research in the area of travel time estimates (see Table 1
and Vessel Travel Time Statistics section). Quantifying historical vessel movement patterns can provide
insight into patterns and performance of specific waterway segments, which can be used to plan waterway
maintenance.
 17

Safety and Security Performance Measures

Number of Vessel Events Investigated by USCG (collisions, allisions, groundings, etc)

Vessel Events Investigated by U.S Coast Guard, 2001 - 2013

12000
Unresolved Case, Vessel Type Not Available (as of April 2014)
10000
Commercial Vessel Events
8000 Recreational Vessel Events
Number of Events

6000

4000

2000

0
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Calendar Year Source: U.S. Coast Guard,MISLE Data (April 2014)

Figure 14. Number of vessel events investigated by USCG, 2001 - 2013. Source: U.S. Coast Guard, Marine
Information for Safety and Law Enforcement (MISLE) files.22 Information on specific vessel event categories
is available. Some marine accidents may alternatively be investigated by the National Transportation
Safety Board including those involving U.S. flagged vessels outside of U.S. waters.23

Number of Commercial Mariner and Passenger Deaths and Injuries

Non-recreational Maritime Injury and Death Events Investigated by USCG, 2001 - 2013
Note: Unresolved cases may be commercial or recreational.
Injuries includes cases of exposure with no injury, missing, and unspecified.
Number of Injury or Death Events

1400
1200
1000
800
600
Unresolved injury and death cases
400
Commercial Deaths
200 Commercial Injuries
0
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Source: U.S. Coast Guard MISLE Data (April 2014)
Calendar Year Files: MisleActivity1.txt, MisleInjury1.txt, MisleReadme.docx

Figure 15. Marine casualties associated with commercial operations, 2001 - 2013. Source: U.S. Coast Guard,
Marine Information for Safety and Law Enforcement (MISLE) files.22
 18

Maritime Incident Investigations

U.S. Coast Guard Incident Investigations, 2002 - 2014 (part year)

18000
16000 Ongoing and pre-decisional investigations
Number of Investigations

14000 Closed investigations

12000
10000
8000
6000
4000
2000
0
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Year Source: U.S. Coast Guard MISLE Data (April 2014)

Figure 16. Number of U.S. Coast Guard Incident Investigations, 2002-2014 (part year). Source: U.S. Coast
Guard, Marine Information for Safety and Law Enforcement (MISLE) files.22 This figure does not reflect
estimated unreported incidents, or any estimate of incidents that cannot be investigated due to funding or
personnel constraints.

Interpretation of Safety and Security Measures

Despite the variety of hazards associated with commercial maritime operations in U.S. waters, the number
of casualties associated with commercial operations in U.S. waters has been relatively stable over the past
decade (see Figures 14-16).22 While it may not be possible to prevent every accident, there is a clear need
for continued oversight and emergency response capability across the MTS. Greater understanding of the
human factors that contribute to accidents is expected to improve safety; research on this topic is being
carried out through groups such as the TRB Committee on Marine Safety and Human Factors.30 At present
there are no standardized public statistics on the effectiveness of specific marine safety interventions. An
assessment of MTS security outcomes is not possible based on the public data gathered for this report.
 19

Environmental Stewardship Performance Measures

U.S. Petroleum-Based Fuel Sales to the Maritime Industry
U.S. Distillate Fuel Oil Sales to Vessel Bunkering Consumers, 1984 - 2012
3,000,000
2,500,000
Thousand Gallons

2,000,000
1,500,000
The vessel bunkering category includes commercial and private boats,
1,000,000 such as pleasure craft, fishing boats, tugboats, and ocean-going
vessels, including vessels operated by oil companies. U.S. Armed
500,000 Forces sales excluded.
0

Year Source: U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration

Figure 17. U.S. Distillate Fuel Oil Sales to Vessel Bunkering Consumers, 1984 - 2012. Source: U.S.
Department of Energy.24 Annual data on petroleum fuels sales to vessel bunkering consumers is available
at the national level, this figure shows a general downward trend in fuel sales since 1998.

Vessel Pollution Incidents (petroleum and other types)

Recorded Vessel Pollution Incidents, 2000 - 2013

3500
Unresolved Investigations (from facilities, vessels, or unknown source)
Number of Pollution Incidents

3000 Commercial Vessels

Recreational Vessels
2500

2000

1500

1000

500

0
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Year Source: U.S. Coast Guard MISLE Data (April 2014), MisleVslPoll1.txt, MisleReadme.docx

Figure 18. Recorded Vessel Pollution Incidents, 2000 – 2013. Source: U.S. Coast Guard, Marine Information
for Safety and Law Enforcement (MISLE) files.22 The vast majority of recorded pollution incidents are
associated with oil pollution, but records include chemical, other, and unspecified events. This figure does
not include pollution incidents associated with on-shore maritime facilities.
 20

Amount of Dredged Material Reclaimed For Beneficial Uses

Dredged Material Placement by Type, 2008 -2013 Unknown

200 Wetland Nourishment

195
190 Upland
185
180
175 Beach & Upland
170
165 Open & Upland
160
155 Overboard & Open
150
Million Cubic Yards of Dredge Material

145 Water
140 Mixed Types
135
130 Underwater Confined
125
120
115 Confined
110
105 Beach Nourishment
100
95
90
85
80
75
70
65
60
55
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Fiscal Year Source: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Figure 19. Dredge Material Placement Methods and Volume, 2008 to 2013. Source: U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers.25 Ability to re-use dredge material depends on sediment type, location, cost, and permitting
requirements. Categorization of dredged material placement is dependent upon local project manager
discretion, definitions may vary from region to region. Aggregated national totals, shown in this Figure,
indicate that overboard and open water placement (red bars) is still a widely used placement method.
Placement of dredged material for wetland nourishment (dark green bars) was noticeably higher in 2008
and 2010 and may reflect regional availability of wetland nourishment projects.
 21

Number of Reported Whale Strikes by Vessels

Large Whale Injury and Mortality Events from Vessels in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico,
140 U.S. Atlantic Coast and Canadian Maritime Provinces, 2002-2010

120
Number of Events

100
80
60 Total Reported Events
Confirmed Ship Strike Mortalities
40
20
0
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Year Source: U.S. Dept of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Figure 20. Large whale injury events and mortalities reported for the U.S. Gulf Coast, U.S. Atlantic Coast,
and Canadian Maritime Provinces from 2002-2010. Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration. Due to the nature of whale-vessel interactions it is likely that many ship strikes go either
unnoticed or unreported. Not all ship strikes are immediately fatal, animals can be discovered later with
evidence of such interactions which may or may not be directly linked with mortality events.

The economic health of the MTS and the natural health of the Nation’s ocean, coastal, and
freshwater ecosystems must co-exist in a way that supports transportation while protecting and
sustaining human health and the environment. The MTS intersects with, and is in close proximity to,
sensitive and valuable natural resources, including wetlands, estuaries, drinking water sources,
recreational waters, watersheds, critical habitats, fisheries, coral reefs, and marine life habitats.

-U.S. Committee on the Marine Transportation System, Strategic Action Plan for the MTS

Interpretation of Environmental Stewardship Measures

MTS environmental stewardship considerations span estuarine, freshwater, coastal, and offshore areas
that vary greatly in their physical and biological conditions. MTS environmental stewardship considerations
are complex because they span the air, water column, and benthic environments which MTS operations
can impact. Preliminary measures that pertain to at least one aspect of air, water column, or benthic
 22

environments have been identified. Since air quality is impacted by the burning of fossil fuels, it is possible
that air pollutants from the MTS are declining, as reflected in the overall decline in distillate fuel oil sales to
maritime consumers since a high point in the late 1990s (see Figure 17).24 Lacking at present are emissions
calculations that include contributions from fuel sold in foreign countries but burned by vessels operating
in U.S. waters. The implementation of Emission Control Areas for U.S. coastal waters along with engine
emission standards and fuel sulfur limits is expected to reduce air pollution.31 This is a topic for future
performance measure development. Pollution events continue to be a challenge for the MTS, although
USCG records indicate a slight decline in cases of vessel-based pollution in recent years (see Figure 18).22
Whether this trend continues remains to be seen; reductions in petroleum-based fuel use would be
expected to reduce the overall likelihood of petroleum pollution events.

Federal navigation channel maintenance activities (e.g. jetty reconstruction, dredging, and dredge material
placement) present their own types of environmental stewardship considerations. Short term
environmental considerations are often focused on local benthic and water column environments during
construction. However, longer term environmental stewardship might consider the potential relationship
between these activities and habitat creation or loss. For sediment dredged out of channels by USACE,
there is no distinct trend of increasing beneficial use of this material. Both the percentage and cubic
yardage of dredged materials used for wetland nourishment dropped from 2008 to 2013; however, there
was a general increase in the cubic yardage and percentage of sediments used for beach nourishment over
the same time (see Figure 19).32 One caveat to this interpretation is the limitation on the level of detail
available in dredge material placement records as well as regional discrepancies in defining what qualifies
as beneficial use. It is possible that more refined data categories for dredge material placement would
reveal different trends. More detailed geographical data would be needed to assess the creation of specific
habitat types from beneficially reused sediments. In the water column, interactions between commercial
vessels and species of concern such as marine mammals appear to be stable (see Figure 20), but within the
scientific community there is believed to be vast underreporting of these events and significant regional
variation.33; 34
 23

Resilience Performance Measures

Age of Federally Owned and Operated Navigation Locks

Number of Navigation Locks Opened by Decade

60
50
40
Number of Locks

30
20
10
0

Decade Source: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Figure 21. Decade of opening for USACE-owned or operated navigation locks: 1830s-2010s. Source: U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers.26 Physical deterioration depends on factors such as the original materials used in
construction, weather conditions, and structural stresses from vessel impacts.

Physical Condition Ratings of Critical Coastal Navigation Infrastructure owned by USACE

Physical Condition Ratings of USACE-owned

Number of Components in

Coastal and Great Lakes Navigation Infrastructure

450
400
350 Number of infrastructure components
Category

300 (across all USACE Divisions)

250
200
150
100
50
0
A B C D F
Insignificant Minor Damage or Moderate Seriously Completely
Damage or Effects Effects Damage or Effects Degraded Degraded

Physical Condition Rating Source: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Figure 22. Physical condition ratings of USACE-owned coastal navigation infrastructure components.
Source: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Asset Management Database (beta).27 Infrastructure includes piers,
groins, jetties, dikes, breakwaters, and revetments of varying size. Scores aggregated by grade class (B, B-,
and B+ ratings are all shown in the B column).
 24

Interpretation of Resilience Measures

Resilience is defined as “the ability to prepare and plan for, resist, recover from, and more successfully
adapt to the impacts of adverse events.” 35 MTS operations are ultimately inseparable from landside
systems, but defining any system requires drawing logical boundaries. For this research, MTS-specific
physical infrastructure is the initial boundary condition for examining resilience. Along inland waterways,
major public infrastructure in the form of locks, dams, and bridges, continues to age (see Figure 21), with
uncertain effects on future service capabilities and maintenance costs. The present resilience of these
structures within an integrated system might be reflected in historical maintenance needs, but defining
such a relationship requires further study. For critical coastal and Great Lakes navigation infrastructure
(e.g., rubble-mound jetty and breakwater structures) owned by USACE, a potential measure of the capacity
to achieve a desired function could be derived from data on physical rating (an engineering evaluation)
used as an indicator of resilience. Results from a recent evaluation of this portfolio showed the most
common physical rating to be a ‘B’, with grades ranging from ‘A’ (second most common grade) to ‘F’ (see
Figure 22).27 The relationship between physical condition rating and level of service (an operational or
functional evaluation) varies and more detailed information is needed to improve understanding in this
area. The level of resilience for privately owned infrastructure such as container terminals or other port
facilities was not evaluated as part of this research but is an important consideration for all MTS
stakeholders. If standardized metrics applicable to all ports and locations were available they would be
valuable to this research.

Vessel Travel Time Statistics – Dwell time example

Vessel travel time statistics, such as mean and standard deviation, can be applied to analyze MTS
performance over time at the local, regional, and national level. Such analysis can help quantify congestion
or the operating impacts of environmental conditions. For this ongoing case study archival AIS data were
used to analyze vessel dwell times at the Wando Container Terminal at the Port of Charleston, SC during
2011. Figure 23 shows a relative density plot (known as a heatmap) of AIS position reports depicting the
locations of the AIS transponders on vessels as they dwelled at the port. Note that heatmap color scales
are not absolute, they must be adjusted to illustrate signal density based on the overall sample size.
Heatmaps can be generated for a variety of spatial scales.

Figure 23. Relative density plot of AIS reports during one month in 2011, overlain on a map of the Wando
Terminal in Charleston, SC
 25

Summary and Recommendations

These results show that we can use existing data to create a high level overview of MTS performance. We
expect user feedback to identify other critical performance areas while improved data can help sharpen the
focus of all measures. Understanding the state of physical assets will not in and of itself make the MTS
function more efficiently, but has immediate relevance to maintenance and resilience planning efforts.
Possible changes in operational patterns might be more feasible than infrastructure expansion, so regular
performance measurement is needed to support an improved understanding for MTS decision making.

This research directly benefits from robust data collection and publication from sources such as the Bureau
of Labor Statistics, Census Bureau, Army Corps of Engineers, National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, Department of Transportation, Department of Energy, Coast Guard, and the Environmental
Protection Agency.32; 36-41 Initiatives such as Data.gov can improve discoverability of previously obscure
resources. Unlocking these rich collections of data has the potential to improve our understanding of MTS
performance, but research is far from complete especially when the MTS is viewed as part of an intermodal
system. A recent National Academy of Science/National Cooperative Freight Research Program publication
noted “there is a lack of the kind of data needed for developing a model that can support MTS
maintenance investment decision-making by being correlated between the [transportation] modes and
almost no accurate data on origins and destinations (in the case of publicly available data).”42 Reducing
these data gaps to improve system performance analysis capabilities would benefit all MTS stakeholders.

In the absence of national MTS goals the current mixture of stakeholder priorities and mission areas will
continue to drive data collection. Recommendations to improve MTS performance measurement
capabilities are listed below.

1. Continue to develop indicators that identify changes, rates of change, and the state of MTS
performance
2. Develop performance measures that reflect priority outcomes based on national goals.
3. Improve understanding of the underlying drivers of MTS performance indicators.
4. Improve intermodal freight connection, and supply chain corridor, visibility and analytics.
5. Improve research access to historical Automatic Identification System vessel data.
6. Federal agencies should review and update existing policies to reflect emerging research needs,
technical sharing capabilities, and agency requirements for open and machine-readable data to
reduce the need for the repetitive data calls.
7. Improve reporting speed and publishing of environmental data.
8. Improve environmental stewardship performance measure data sourcing.
9. Develop coastal resilience measures, using sources such as shoreline change records provided by
the National Coastal Mapping Program.43
 26

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 28

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