Regional Freight Plan

North Florida Transportation Planning Organization (TPO)

July 2024

Project Overview

Our region is located at the confluence of three major railroads (Norfolk Southern, CSX and Florida East Coast (FEC)) and two major interstate facilities (I-10 and I-95). North Florida includes major port facilities at Blount Island, Dames Point Talleyrand and Fernandina; an international airport; and a spaceport facility at Cecil Commerce Center and Spaceport. The purpose of this plan is to address the needs of freight growth by identifying potential safety, security, and system capacity improvements.

All deliveries, the goods you purchase, the gas you buy to fill your car and the food you eat are all delivered by trucks, rail, and ships and planes through our sea-ports and airports.

More than 55 million people, representing 17% of the U.S. population, are reachable in one day by truck (500-mile radius).

We serve as the gateway to Florida's 21.7 million residents. These unique transportation market service areas solidify our region's position as America's Logistic Center.

Strategic Intermodal System

The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) defines the Strategic Intermodal System (SIS) as follows:

“The Strategic Intermodal System (SIS), established in 2003, is a statewide network of high priority transportation facilities most critical for statewide and interregional travel. The SIS includes the state’s largest and most significant commercial service airports, spaceports, deep-water seaports, freight rail terminals, passenger rail, intercity bus terminals, rail corridors, waterways, and highways.”

FDOT 2050 Cost Feasible Plan

The level of connectivity to the North Florida region is a significant economic advantage for our region. This map shows major elements of the multimodal freight network in North Florida.

The hubs identified are major connection points between modes or military facilities. Connectors between these hubs and the major SIS highways are elements of the Strategic Highway Network (STRAHNET) or the primary access to the hub.

  1. Camp Blanding
  2. Cecil Airport
  3. Jacksonville Amtrak Station
  4. CSX Intermodal Jacksonville Yard
  5. FEC Bowden Yard
  6. JTA Jacksonville Regional Transportation Center
  7. Jacksonville International Airport
  8. Norfolk Southern Jacksonville Intermodal Facility - Simpson Yard
  9. Naval Air Station Jacksonville
  10. Naval Station Mayport
  11. JAXPORT Blount Island Marine Terminal
  12. JAXPORT Dames Point
  13. JAXPORT Cruise Terminal
  14. JAXPORT Intermodal Container Transfer Facility
  15. JAXPORT Talleyrand Terminal
  16. Port of Fernandina

Road Network and Trucking

The major SIS highway facilities within our region are shown on the previous map and listed below:

  • I-10
  • I-95
  • I-295 and SR 9B
  • SR-23 First Coast Expressway
  • US-1 from I-295 to the Georgia State Line
  • US-17 from SR 100 to Naval Air Station Jacksonville (emerging SIS)
  • US-301/SR 200 from Bradford County Line to I-95

In general, truck-related highway needs follow the congested roadway needs. The Annual Average Daily Truck volumes (AADT) on the region's highways were estimated using the FDOT's Annual Average Daily Traffic GIS file on their GIS Open Data Portal.

We analyzed and documented various data to develop this regional plan, including:

  • SIS Facilities Level of Service
  • Truck Travel Time Reliability
  • Bottleneck Analysis
  • Pavement Condition Analysis
  • National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI)
  • Truck Parking Facilities

Rail Network

North Florida is located at a key junction for three railroads, CSX, Norfolk Southern and Florida East Coast Railway (FEC). CSX and Norfolk Southern are Class I railroads. The FEC is a Class II railroad. The Dames Point Intermodal Yard - Intermodal Container Transfer Facility (ICTF) is also located at Jaxport’s Dames Point Terminal. Additionally, Amtrak, the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, operates a passenger intermodal facility on the northwest side of Jacksonville off of US-23/SR 15 New Kings Road.

This map summarizes the track usage rights on each railway, the rail system, and its major terminals.

Rail-highway grade crossings present one of the most severe safety issues on the freight network. This map summarizes the at-grade crossings where crashes occurred in 2018-2023 and the severity of those crashes. Three fatalities occurred and 49 total crashes occurred at rail-highway grade crossings.

ZIM Vessel Kota at Jaxport

Ports

JAXPORT and its maritime partners handle containerized cargo, automobiles, recreational boats and construction equipment, dry and liquid bulks, break bulk commodities, and oversized and specialty cargoes. The three major JAXPORT terminals include the Blount Island terminal, the Dames Point Marine terminal, and the Talleyrand terminal. Other major ports in the area include the Port of Fernandina (Ocean Highway and Port Authority) and a network of privately-owned maritime facilities in Jacksonville and Northeast Florida. The locations of major ports are depicted on the Strategic Intermodal System map.

Logistics Clusters

North Florida maintains a significant amount of support infrastructure such as distribution centers, warehousing, industrial and manufacturing facilities. In fact, this region includes more than 120 million square feet of such space and has added nearly 20 million square feet in the past five years.

Freight & Commodity Flows

Total movement of freight by mode is summarized for the Jacksonville Metropolitan Statistical Area in the Freight Analysis Framework (FAF):

Produced through a partnership between Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), integrates data from a variety of sources to create a comprehensive picture of freight movement among states and major metropolitan areas by all modes of transportation. Starting with data from the 2017 Commodity Flow Survey (CFS) and international trade data from the Census Bureau, FAF version 5 (FAF5) incorporates data from agriculture, extraction, utility, construction, service, and other sectors. The FAF5 provides estimates for tonnage and value by regions of origin and destination, commodity type, and mode for base year 2017 and a 30- year forecasts. FAF5 forecasts provide a range of future freight demands at five-year increments representing three different economic growth scenarios, through 2050, by various modes of transportation.

Freight Analysis Framework version 5

The FAF provides data on the goods moved through the region as illustrated in this flow map that depicts international transshipments to and from the North Florida Region.

The following dashboard views were obtained from the  FAF Data Visualization Tool . The tool can be used to visualize both domestic and international freight flows at the nation-wide, state, and FAF zone levels.

2050 Demand Forecasts

By the year 2050, freight flows within the region are anticipated to increase by:

  • Trucks 45%, or 1.24% per year compounding growth rate
  • Rail 93%, or 2.21% per year compounding growth rate
  • Ports 112%, or 2.53% per year compounding growth rate

Relative Growth of Freight by Mode and Population. Source: Freight Analysis Framework

SIS Needs Plan

FDOT's 2045 SIS Unfunded Needs Plan identifies highway and rail needs projects to address reliability, congestions, and operational concerns. SIS Unfunded Needs projects in the North Florida TPO region are shown in this map, labelled by their Project ID in the SIS Plan.

Additional Needs

Increased demand for freight rail and intermodal movements will meet or exceed the capacity of existing rail infrastructure in the region.

Congestion levels are projected to increase significantly by 2050 and this will impact reliability - the most important consideration for trucking. These needs are summarized in the highway needs plan. Truck parking also continues to be a significant concern for drivers who need safe and convenient locations to rest during their required service breaks. Delays at port gates are anticipated to increase.

The most significant bottleneck on the rail system today is the FEC Railroad Bridge over the St. Johns River. This bridge is a system bottleneck and will limit the capacity for trains to move through region and access the intermodal and port facilities. A project is underway to provide signal and switch improvements to make the operations more efficient, but this project will not provide the capacity needed by 2050.

Safety improvements are needed at high-crash rail-highway grade crossings. Risk is inherent in these crossings with the conflicting needs for roadway system connectivity and existing rail corridors. Constructing grade separations may result in significant right-of-way impacts and construction costs.

Improvements are needed at our ports to address demand growth maintain our region’s competitiveness. Expansion of off-dock services and capacity for container storage is needed. Raising the JEA power lines at Fulton Cut is needed to complete the last step for post-Panamax container ships to be served at Dames Point and Blount Island.

Based on our research and analysis, the following projects are needed to maintain and improve freight mobility in the region. The next step will be to identify funding sources and program the projects for implementation by the responsible agency.

Summary of Needs - Project Table

Contact Us:

Your support is important too. To get engaged in planning on our region's transportation future, contact us.

North Florida Transportation Planning Organization

980 N Jefferson St, Jacksonville, FL 32209 

ZIM Vessel Kota at Jaxport

Relative Growth of Freight by Mode and Population. Source: Freight Analysis Framework

Summary of Needs - Project Table