New Routes Just for Trucks Urged

Despite lower-than-expected use, the corridor authority has been able to pay its bills in part because of increased volume overall at the ports. But the authority had a net loss of $59.5 million last year, said Chief Financial Officer Dean Martin. And although part of that was from a one-time charge associated with refinancing debt, officials are concerned that money could get tighter.

In the last year, the authority has tried to develop a plan to make the corridor more appealing to shippers by adding shuttle trains.

The idea is to run trains from the northern terminus out to San Bernardino County or Riverside County so the cargo would wind up close to those inland shipping hubs.

But the proposal has several serious drawbacks.

The tracks heading east to the Inland Empire are already crowded, so shuttle trains would encounter significant congestion unless a dedicated rail line could be built.

Moreover, it would cost $100 million to $200 million to build facilities to unload and store the cargo after it arrived inland.

And, because there are no train lines leading directly to the inland hubs, the goods would have to be loaded on trucks anyway just to get to the big container warehouses.

The corridor authority plans to begin a pilot program next year to test the shuttle train idea, Doherty said. But he said the service would have to be subsidized, because it would cost at least $100 more to send a container by rail to the inland hubs than by truck.

Meanwhile, he and others said, truck traffic will continue to increase, and the 710 is too old and too small to continue to carry it.

"The fact of the matter is: We've got to improve our infrastructure," Hahn said. "Our port is going to triple in growth in 20 years, and we are not doing anything to prepare for that growth."

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Alameda Corridor

Truck traffic, already heavy on area freeways, is expected to increase dramatically by 2025. The problem could be exacerbated because the $2.5-billion Alameda Corridor rail line has not been attractive to shippers who use trucks instead of trains to haul freight to massive inland shipping hubs.

Weekday truck volume on Southern California freeways

*--* Freeway 2002 2025* Interstate 110 18,628 39,120 Interstate 405 20,273 42,600 Interstate 10 20,400 43,300 U.S. 101 20,657 43,380 Interstate 105 26,143 54,900 Interstate 5 40,885 85,860 Interstate 710 47,285 99,300 California 60 50,400 105,840

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*Projected

Source: Southern California Assn. of Governments