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Public-private partnerships at center of Memphis freight conference
(The following story by Eric Smith appeared on The Daily News website on November 10, 2009.)
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Memphis’ intermodal and freight capabilities are legendary. The city has boasted the world’s busiest cargo airport for 17 straight years thanks to hometown shipping giant FedEx Corp.
Two major interstates – 40 and 55 – intersect in Memphis with two more – 22 and 69 – coming soon that will add to the area’s road infrastructure.
Five Class I railroads have major operations in the Memphis area, making the city one of the most important rail centers in the U.S.
And the Mississippi River, this city’s original transportation asset when it was renowned for shipping cotton and lumber, still helps Memphis rank today as the nation’s fourth busiest inland port.
What’s sometimes lost in all these bullet points is how those modes of transport developed over the years. Each project, from a Southeast Memphis warehouse to the airport’s World Runway, was accomplished because of public money and private enterprise.
That union will be discussed at the third annual Intermodal and Freight Conference Thursday at the University of Memphis’ FedEx Institute of Technology. Titled “Public/Private Partnerships,” the conference will begin with registration at 8 a.m. and will last until 1 p.m.
The University of Memphis’ Intermodal Freight Transportation Institute and the Greater Memphis Chamber’s Regional Logistics Council is hosting the conference.
Public-private partnerships
Arnold Perl, chairman of the Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority and a partner at Ford and Harrison LLP, will kick off the event with a discussion of Memphis’ aerotropolis as a quintessential example of a public-private partnership.
The initiative, in which the airport drives the local economy while other modes of transportation help make the city a dynamic logistics and distribution nexus, recently received Memphis City Council funding and also has the backing of numerous corporations.
Following Perl’s speech, U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Memphis, will update attendees on federal transportation legislation. That component is a critical one that has been in the public eye lately.
Other speakers slated for the event include Crystal Jones of the Office of Freight Management and Operations for the Federal Highway Administration discussing data sharing between public and private entities; Tom Carpenter, director of transportation for International Paper Co., discussing uniform truck size and weight issues; Jeffrey Sriver, program director of CREATE, discussing his company’s Chicago rail project; and Ed Cole, assistant commissioner at the Tennessee Department of Transportation, discussing public-private partnerships as they relate to TDOT.
Road woes
Martin Lipinski, director of IFTI and an engineering professor at the University of Memphis, said the Chicago CREATE program will be especially eye opening for attendees. That program deals with rail issues in Chicago. For Memphis, there are plenty of similar issues, whether it’s the arrival of Norfolk Southern Corp.’s new Fayette County intermodal terminal or the existing rail line that parallels Poplar Avenue.
“They’re looking at the issues of connectivity among the railroads and removing congestion points, some of the things we’re going to be facing and we do face: the Poplar corridor and what that means with congestion on our street system,” Lipinski said.
Norfolk Southern’s planned intermodal yard in Rossville will carve out 570 acres in Fayette County and rely on investments by the railroad and the state to make the terminal a reality.
It shines a light on the complexity of public-private partnerships. When the railroads invest millions of dollars in the community, like BNSF Railway Co. did to its yard in Southeast Memphis, should taxpayers be responsible for some of the supporting infrastructure, such as roads?
“As we continue to see these private investments – Norfolk Southern, BNSF – that’s just adding more traffic to the local roadway network,” Lipinski said. “Who is expected to pick that up?”
‘Working hand-in-hand’
One of the biggest public-private partnerships looming on the horizon is the development of a third bridge spanning the Mississippi River. Because it is likely to be an intermodal bridge with road and rail access, the project will benefit private companies like the railroads as well as the public.
Dexter Muller, the chamber’s senior vice president for community development and logistics council director, said public-private partnerships in Memphis have a three-pronged approach.
First is the planning aspect, something Muller said is being tackled by studies such as the “Memphis Regional Intermodal Infrastructure Assessment,” which identifies the city’s assets and needs for it to continue being successful in the global economy.
Next is marketing. Muller cited an example of the chamber teaming with FedEx to promote that company’s three-continent hub strategy. Last is infrastructure, which is aided by the private sector helping government identify what the city’s transportation priorities should be.
“When a local community is working most effectively, the public and the private sectors are working hand-in-hand, and each has a role. I see us working on things in three areas: planning, marketing and infrastructure development,” Muller said. “We have to work in collaboration on all three of those.”
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
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