Foundation Studies

January 6, 2022

A Modal Comparison of Domestic Freight Transportation Effects on the General Public: 2001–2019

In January 2022, the National Waterways Foundation (NWF) commissioned an update of its study comparing selected impacts of utilizing inland waterways barge transportation to highway and rail transportation. was conducted by the Texas A&M Transportation Institute’s Center for Port and Waterways. Originally conducted and peer-reviewed in 2007, the study was also previously updated in 2011 and 2017 when data sets were available. The 2022 update addresses cargo capacity, congestion, emissions, energy efficiency, safety, and infrastructure impacts.