WSDOT Releases West Coast Corridor Transportation Study

The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) has released the West Coast Corridor Coalition Trade and Transportation Study Final Report. The study conducted an analysis of freight, trade, and transportation trends in the West Coast, and outlined the identification and description of key chokepoints, constraints, and issues in the region.

Some of the key findings of the report include:

• West Coast seaports - led by Los Angeles, Long Beach, Seattle, Tacoma, and Oakland - handled over one-half of all containerized shipments entering and departing the United States in 2006. Locally, the Portland/Vancouver, WA to Seattle trade flow accounted for $23 billion in total value according to the (Federal Highway Association) FHWA Freight Analysis Framework in 2002.
• In the same year, the West Coast’s airports handled nearly 8.4 million tons of overseas freight, accounting for 42 percent of the U.S. total.
• The region’s north-south transportation infrastructure, with I-5 as its backbone, has emerged as a crucial trade corridor for both domestic commerce and international trade, connecting West Coast metropolitan areas and serving increasing volumes of NAFTA-related shipments. Total domestic trade among these major West Coast metropolitan areas totaled over 145 million tons, valued at more than $254 billion in 2002. The majority of goods movement among the West Coast mega regions and their major metropolitan areas- approximately 75 percent- occurs by truck, primarily on the I-5 and SR-99 corridors.

The West Coast Corridor Coalition Trade and Transportation Study Final Report can be reviewed here.