Houston Projects 2000 and 2001–Research Leading to the Design of a Palletized Cargo Consolidation and Distribution ULS for Houston, Texas

A.P. James, Texas A&M University, U.S.A.

F. Sanders, TU Delft, Netherlands

G. Arends, TU Delft, Netherlands

Over the last few years, a cooperative transportation research effort between Texas A&M University (TAMU), US, and the Technical University Delft (TUD), the Netherlands, has produced a continuing and developing study of transportation issues and problems in the Galveston Bay (Houston) area of Texas. About 17 million people live within a radius of 300 miles (480 kilometers) of Houston. The area consequently faces the various types of pollution and the severe traffic congestion usually associated with such a populated area. In fact, Houston’s problems are among the most severe of any US metropolitan center--its container port is the largest such facility on the Gulf of Mexico, and the landside transport of containerized cargo there is currently achieved almost exclusively by truck, contributing greatly to the area’s traffic problems. Growth will render traffic flows and pollution untenable unless alternatives to current transportation systems are developed. The 2000 TUD research team surveyed overall cargo transportation problems in the area around Houston and presented several alternatives to address these problems. In 2001, a second research team from TUD visited the area to perform a study suggested by one aspect of the previous team’s recommendations, the subject being the furtherance of research into the feasibility of an underground logistics system (ULS) for transporting containerized cargo within the City of Houston. The 2001 study developed a provisional design and route for such a network and looked at methods for funding the project. This report summarizes the major findings of the combined research efforts to this point and examines potential further research efforts for the area. The authors directed the research efforts of both teams.