Announcing a New Freight Course: Uses of Multimodal Freight Forecasting in Transportation Planning
The Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA’s) Office of Freight Management and Operations and Office of Planning are offering a new three-day course, Uses of Multimodal Freight Forecasting in Transportation Planning. This course is part of FHWA’s Freight Professional Development and Transportation Planning Capacity Building Programs. These complimentary programs provide technical training to the freight transportation and planning workforce to broaden their knowledge base and develop new skills.
Why Attend?
Efficient, safe, and secure freight transportation helps form the foundation upon which our Nation’s economic strength rests. It allows businesses to move raw materials to factories and finished goods to and from markets all over the world. The freight transportation system is also important to economic development efforts, as cities and towns use their proximity to transportation facilities as a way to attract businesses and jobs.
Forecasting freight traffic is a complex task. It requires an understanding of many factors, including economic trends, the distribution of traffic, locational decisions made by freight shippers, and the operational characteristics of freight carriers. Moreover, freight forecasting uses different data sources and analytical tools than those used in forecasting passenger travel.
Course Information
Uses of Multimodal Freight Forecasting in Transportation Planning (Course 139002) is offered through the National Highway Institute (NHI). The initial 10 course offerings are free and available on a first-come, first-served basis beginning in January 2005.
This course is an “about” course on freight forecasting and describes different forecasting techniques for meeting facility, metropolitan, and statewide needs. The course will identify freight planning questions that are commonly addressed by transportation planners, demonstrate the use and value of different freight forecasting techniques to answer those questions, and review notable freight forecasting practices used by metropolitan and state transportation agencies.
State departments of transportation, metropolitan planning organizations, local governments, FHWA division offices, and businesses can sponsor the three-day course. A minimum of 20 participants is needed to sponsor the course, and classes are limited in size to a maximum of 35 participants. To find out about sponsoring and registering for this course, please go to http://www.nhi.fhwa.dot.gov/default.asp and select “NHI Training Programs.”
An executive freight-planning seminar, aimed at transportation decisionmakers, is also available through the FHWA Resource Center Planning Team. This 30- to 60-minute course can be tailored to your state’s or region’s needs and is an effective approach for educating elected officials and other stakeholders who cannot attend the three-day course. For more information on technical assistance programs available from the FHWA Resource Center, please visit https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/resourcecenter.
FHWA Technical Contacts
FPD Program Coordinator
Federal Highway Administration
Office of Freight Management and Operations
202-366-9210
Robert Gorman
Federal Highway Administration
Office of Planning
Robert.Gorman@fhwa.dot.gov
202-366-5001
Supin Yoder
Federal Highway Administration
Resource Center Planning Team
Supin.Yoder@fhwa.dot.gov
708-283-3554
NHI Course Scheduling Contact
Danielle Mathis-Lee
Federal Highway Administration
Danielle.Mathis-Lee@fhwa.dot.gov
703-235-0528
Office of Freight Management and Operations, 400 7th Street, SW, Room 3401,Washington,D.C. 20590
FPD Web site: www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/freight/fpd,Toll-free help-line 866-367-7487
