CURRENT STATE RAIL PLANNING AND RESEARCH NEEDS

The major problems of the railroad branch-line subsidy program are identified. An alternative program that utilizes rail and motor carriers is proposed. This alternative appears to be more efficient from economic, environmental, and energy perspectives. Other research areas related to state rail branch-line planning include areas of competition, shipper roles, liability risk, taxation, prioritization and the identification of alternatives, state role in rail traffic generation, structure of management incentive fees, and labor cost issues at the macrolevel. Other problems presented are in areas of freight forecasting, rail patron credibility, energy utilization and environmental pollution, transportability of products, and highway impacts at the microlevel.