News:

Thanks to everyone for the feedback on what errors you encountered at https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=33904.0
Corrected several already and appreciate your patience as we work through the rest.

Main Menu

TxDOT RFP For Leased ROW Freight Transportation

Started by Grzrd, February 19, 2012, 04:52:34 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

Grzrd

In posts on other threads, I have mentioned the Freight Shuttle as a possibility for the I-35 and I-69 Texarkana Spur corridors in Texas.  What I did not realize at the time was that, on April 8, 2011, TxDOT had already issued a RFP for "proposals from public and private sector entities to lease existing TxDOT-owned right of way from the Department on which the entity would implement a Low Emission Freight Transportation Facility (or Facilities) (LEFTF) without TxDOT's financial support."

Also, I have stumbled upon this pdf, which appears to be a Power Point presentation that, on pages 11-13/21 of the pdf, sets forth a three-stage plan for an international Freight Shuttle from Dallas to Monterrey along the I-35 corridor in the US segment.  Also, page 20/21 of the pdf provides a good visual representation of the proposed business model.

Sounds like some serious proposals are being developed ... January 2012 is set forth as the time to conclude a lease negotiation (page 7 of document; page 10/90 of RFP pdf).   :hmm:

[MODS - I put the topic here instead of "Off-Topic" because it relates to leasing ROW of currently existing roads and it is also envisioned as a financing mechanism for road construction and maintenance]

EDIT

This email exchange indicates that, as of January 2, one proposal had been received by TxDOT and was under review:

Quote
>From: Jerry Schneider <j...@peak.org>
>To: "Roger Beall" <Roger.Be...@txdot.gov>
>Date: 1/2/2012 4:03 PM
>Subject: Re: Fwd: TxDOT Internet E-Mail
>At 10:04 AM 1/2/2012, you wrote:
> >Mr.  Schneider,
> >I have been informed that you are interested in the status of the
> >RFP for a lease of state-own ROW for low emission freight
> >transportation facilities. We received one proposal and are
> >currently reviewing it. We do not have an anticipated award or
> >rejection date yet.

Dallas to Monterrey?  Or, Texarkana to Freeport?  Or, another route entirely?


dariusb

It's a new day for a new beginning.

mgk920

Would these corridors essentially be new construction 'open access' (European-style) railroads, open for use by anyone who wants to?

That would be interesting.

Mike

Grzrd

Quote from: Grzrd on February 19, 2012, 04:52:34 PM
Dallas to Monterrey?  Or, Texarkana to Freeport?  Or, another route entirely?

TxDOT received a proposal for the I-35 corridor, I assume for Dallas to San Antonio, which is currently under review.  Here's part of an email reply I received from Roger Beall at TxDOT:

Quote
Thank you for your inquiry. We received one proposal on October 3, 2011 and their proposal was for leasing the right-of-way within a portion of the IH-35 corridor. The Texas Transportation Commission has not acted on moving forward with lease negotiations. We are in the process of clarifying some items from the proposer. No time frame has been set for Commission action to approve or disapprove moving forward with lease negotiations.
Please let me know if you have any other questions.

No telling how long the clarifications will take ...

dariusb

Quote from: Grzrd on February 21, 2012, 11:31:26 AM
Quote from: Grzrd on February 19, 2012, 04:52:34 PM
Dallas to Monterrey?  Or, Texarkana to Freeport?  Or, another route entirely?

TxDOT received a proposal for the I-35 corridor, I assume for Dallas to San Antonio, which is currently under review.  Here's part of an email reply I received from Roger Beall at TxDOT:

Quote
Thank you for your inquiry. We received one proposal on October 3, 2011 and their proposal was for leasing the right-of-way within a portion of the IH-35 corridor. The Texas Transportation Commission has not acted on moving forward with lease negotiations. We are in the process of clarifying some items from the proposer. No time frame has been set for Commission action to approve or disapprove moving forward with lease negotiations.
Please let me know if you have any other questions.

No telling how long the clarifications will take ...

I can't wait to hear that the freight line between Tex-Americas Center and the Houston area is confirmed. The opportunity it would bring here would be staggering.
It's a new day for a new beginning.

Grzrd

#5
Quote from: mgk920 on February 20, 2012, 12:38:08 PM
Would these corridors essentially be new construction 'open access' (European-style) railroads, open for use by anyone who wants to?
That would be interesting.
Mike

I don't think so.  I get the impression that the RFP was narrowly drawn to favor a Freight Shuttle proposal, since the Freight Shuttle has been developed in part by the Texas Transportation Institute.  Also, Questions 2 and 6 of the RFP Proposers Question and Answers Log seem to indicate that a relatively short response time favored the Freight Shuttle, but the two questions also indicate that other groups considered responding to the RFP and that they may be well-prepared to respond to a future RFP.

Above said, TTA's response to Question 16 indicates that TTA has not predetermined any type of switching mechanism.  Also, TTA's response to Question 22 indicates that there are no current plans to have a uniform, state-wide cargo network.  Similarly, TTA responded to Question 5 by stating that at this time TTA cannot commit to give a preference to a system initially established on a segment of an interstate corridor for the remainder of that interstate corridor.  BTW Question 5 specifically referenced I-69 in addition to I-35, which tells me that a future RFP may well receive a proposal for the Houston-to-Texarkana portion of the I-69 Corridor.

Also, TTA's response to Question 10 unequivocally states that passenger transport may not be part of the proposal.

Grzrd

Quote from: Grzrd on February 21, 2012, 11:31:26 AM
TxDOT received a proposal for the I-35 corridor, I assume for Dallas to San Antonio, which is currently under review.  Here's part of an email reply I received from Roger Beall at TxDOT:
Quote
Thank you for your inquiry. We received one proposal on October 3, 2011 and their proposal was for leasing the right-of-way within a portion of the IH-35 corridor. The Texas Transportation Commission has not acted on moving forward with lease negotiations. We are in the process of clarifying some items from the proposer. No time frame has been set for Commission action to approve or disapprove moving forward with lease negotiations.

This article indicates that TxDOT is still reviewing the October 3 proposal:

Quote
Imagine driving along Interstate 35 with almost no long-haul truck traffic, at least not on road level.
But look up and there would be the trucks - at least the containers and trailers - whizzing along just above the passenger cars on elevated, electric-powered conveyor lanes, at 60 mph with no drivers.
Imagine this freight conveyor extending from Dallas to Monterrey, Mexico, more than 530 miles, with entry and exit points in or near each large city along the route, including San Antonio.
That could be the future of North American Free Trade Agreement trade and other freight movement in Texas if a Dallas company's dream comes true.
The company is Freight Shuttle International. Since 2005, Texas A&M University's Texas Transportation Institute Assistant Director Stephen Roop has been designing the project for the company.
The project now is under study by the Texas Department of Transportation as the lone response to a request for proposals issued by TxDOT last year. If TxDOT determines the project is safe and doesn't interfere with other TxDOT planned projects, the agency could lease highway right of way to Freight Shuttle, spokeswoman Kelli Petras said ....

The article also mentions that Freight Shuttle would probably first want to do a pilot project either at the El Paso-Juarez border crossing or the Long Beach port:

Quote
Freight Shuttle, in the meantime, first wants to build a small demonstration project to show the project is viable before tackling I-35 and other long-distance systems. Roop said two possible demonstration projects are 10 miles between El Paso and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, and another involving the congested seaport of Long Beach, Calif.
Roop emphasized this: No taxpayer money would be involved. Freight Shuttle doesn't want it. Taxpayers would win because congestion would be reduced, taking pressure off the need to widen highways. Less highway damage from trucks reduces maintenance costs.
The system is flexible, Roop said. The elevated lanes could be built over overpasses and around cloverleaf interchanges. Technology for spanning rivers is figured out. Cost to build is about $10 million-$11 million per mile ....

It will be interesting to see how long TxDOT takes to make a decision.

Grzrd

This June 7, 2012 article indicates that TxDOT and Freight Shuttle, International ("FSI") are close to finalizing a reservation of a 250 mile I-35 right-of-way agreement (from Waxahachie to San Antonio) that would give FSI three years for getting its financing in order and would provide a time frame for an environmental study. Afterwards, it is anticipated that construction could be completed in three years:

Quote
Stephen Roop, an assistant director at Texas A&M University's Texas Transportation Institute and developer of the so-called Freight Shuttle concept ... and his colleagues have formed Freight Shuttle International, which is cobbling together the estimated $2.5 billion needed to build the first leg of this futuristic transportation system. The guideway would be built within the right of way of Interstate 35, initially stretching about 250 miles from San Antonio to Waxahachie -- but eventually extending north through Dallas-Fort Worth and south to the Mexican border.
The Texas Department of Transportation and Freight Shuttle are close to reaching a deal giving the company dibs on highway right of way for the project .... The state and the company are close to approving a reservation of right of way agreement. That document would give the company three years to arrange its financing and conduct an environmental study, Roop said.
Another three years would be needed for construction
, he said. Most of the work could be done in highway medians with minimal traffic disruptions ....

Brian556

This cpould definitely be an issue for the upcoming widening project on I-35E from Denton to Dallas since there was no space allocated for this in the plans.
Anyway, how the heck could they do this "in the medians with minimal traffic disruptions" in Dallas where there is no extra space in the median?

NE2

Quote from: Brian556 on June 17, 2012, 11:45:09 PM
This cpould definitely be an issue for the upcoming widening project on I-35E from Denton to Dallas since there was no space allocated for this in the plans.
Anyway, how the heck could they do this "in the medians with minimal traffic disruptions" in Dallas where there is no extra space in the median?

The animation on http://www.freightshuttle.com/ shows an expensive guideway-in-the-sky setup partly above the highway lanes. I suppose that's one way.
pre-1945 Florida route log

I accept and respect your identity as long as it's not dumb shit like "identifying as a vaccinated attack helicopter".

Grzrd

Quote from: Grzrd on June 16, 2012, 11:24:29 PM
This June 7, 2012 article indicates that TxDOT and Freight Shuttle, International ("FSI") are close to finalizing a reservation of a 250 mile I-35 right-of-way agreement (from Waxahachie to San Antonio) that would give FSI three years for getting its financing in order and would provide a time frame for an environmental study. Afterwards, it is anticipated that construction could be completed in three years

As far as I can tell, there is no finalized deal between TxDOT and FSI, but a November 28 Austin TV video report and a November 29 San Antonio video report seem to indicate an effort to garner local support along the I-35 corridor for the Freight Shuttle concept.

longhorn

I wander if there is an option for passenger service on the same system route system.

J N Winkler

I have a feeling this will turn out similarly to the Trans-Texas Corridor and, before it, the Texas TGV.  If they were proposing to put in fiber optic or some other type of wired infrastructure along the entire length of IH 35 in three years, I might believe that was realistic, but a freight guideway is just too ambitious.
"It is necessary to spend a hundred lire now to save a thousand lire later."--Piero Puricelli, explaining the need for a first-class road system to Benito Mussolini

Grzrd

#13
Quote from: J N Winkler on December 05, 2012, 10:25:44 AM
I have a feeling this will turn out similarly to the Trans-Texas Corridor and, before it, the Texas TGV.  If they were proposing to put in fiber optic or some other type of wired infrastructure along the entire length of IH 35 in three years, I might believe that was realistic, but a freight guideway is just too ambitious.

I suspect that your feeling is directly on target.  This morning, I received an email update from TxDOT regarding their ongoing discussions with Freight Shuttle International:

Quote
TxDOT is continuing to discuss technical and policy aspects of Freight Shuttle International's proposal. With the innovative nature and complexity of their concept, a schedule for bringing the proposal forward to the Texas Transportation Commission has not been set.

At the risk of overparsing the email, I added the emphasis regarding policy aspects of the proposal.  The project will need significant public support to go forward; it will be interesting to observe the evolution of the PR campaign. 

Grzrd

Quote from: J N Winkler on December 05, 2012, 10:25:44 AM
If they were proposing to put in fiber optic or some other type of wired infrastructure along the entire length of IH 35 in three years, I might believe that was realistic, but a freight guideway is just too ambitious.

This article reports that Freight Shuttle International's ("FSI's") initial project will be a more manageable approximate ten miles in length and will carry loaded trailers and intermodal containers back and forth across the border at El Paso/ Juarez:

Quote
... by 2017, the freight shuttle could be able to handle virtually all of the cargo imported by 2,400 trucks a day crossing from Juárez at the Zaragosa and Bridge of the Americas ports of entry.
The elimination of that truck and container traffic, much of it from maquiladora plants, would sharply reduce wait times while vastly increasing the region's import-export capacity.
The company, Freight Shuttle International, has signed a letter of intent with El Paso, Juárez and REDCo to privately finance and build its first cargo transport system here.
Officials of both cities and the company have traveled to Washington, D.C. and Mexico City to work on the plan and to get ready to start the presidential permit process required by Mexico to allow a new cross-border service.
The system would be roughly 10 miles long, connecting secure loading and inspection stations in El Paso and Juárez with shuttles on monorails. The shuttle would speed loaded trailers and intermodal containers back and forth across the border.

The article also notes that FSI is continuing its negotiations with TxDOT regarding the I-35 corridor:

Quote
FSI .... is also negotiating with the Texas Department of Transportation to build a $2.5 billion freight shuttle line using the Interstate 35 right-of-way to connect the Dallas, Austin and San Antonio corridor.
That privately financed line would eventually extend to Laredo and across the U.S.-Mexico border to Monterrey.



Opinions expressed here on belong solely to the poster and do not represent or reflect the opinions or beliefs of AARoads, its creators and/or associates.