Freight Plan - MassDOT Planning

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Massachusetts State Freight Plan

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Freight Plan

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation has conducted a comprehensive evaluation of the Commonwealth's freight transportation system its operations, and effect on economic development and quality of life. The State Freight Plan is multi-modal (includes air, rail, truck and maritime transport) and intermodal (transportation by more than one mode, e.g. truck and rail) in its scope, analysis, and Freight loading from a ship

recommendations.

Study Goals and Objectives

The goals have been developed to frame the key issues to be addressed in the State Freight Plan. These goals were refined with input from a Working Group and stakeholders and used to identify a set of study objectives for each transportation mode and help shape evaluation criteria.

Preliminary goals are:

Capacity and Operations: Ensure adequate capacity and operational efficiency of the freight system in Massachusetts.

Economic Development: Support development and a healthy economy through informed investment in the freight system.
Environmental and Quality of Life: Ensure that improvements to the freight system do not negatively impact the environment and help improve the quality of life for Massachusetts residents.
Safety and Security: Enhance the safety and security of the freight transportation system in all modes.
Policy and Decision-making: Provide tools and information to state decision-makers to make informed choices about investment in the freight system in the current transportation funding environment.

Study Outcome

The final outcome of the Plan is a set of findings and recommendations based on a high-level overview of the current and projected key issues facing the freight industry in Massachusetts.

FINAL Massachusetts State Freight Plan is now available! (PDF - 12.9 MB)

Chapters:
- Executive Summary (PDF - 3.7 MB)
- Overview of Approach and Methodology (PDF - 132 KB)
- Existing Conditions of Massachusetts Freight System (PDF - 6 MB)
- Trends and Future Conditions (PDF - 3 MB)
- Investment Scenario Analysis (PDF - 1 MB)
- Findings and Recommendations (PDF - 638 KB)

Portable Document Format (PDF) documents require Adobe Reader, which is available for free on the Adobe Website. Please read MassDOT’s Accessibility Statement for additional information.

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