The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has shared a draft version of the National Multimodal Freight Network (NMFN) map, marking an important step in a project that Congress set in motion nearly ten years ago. The draft map, released on Friday, shows about 175,000 miles of highways, railways, and waterways, as well as 140 seaports and 65 airports.
The NMFN map is meant to help states decide where to spend federal money on infrastructure improvements, focusing on key routes for moving goods across the country. The draft map is based on feedback the DOT collected after releasing a notice in April 2024.
The goal of the NMFN is to make different forms of transportation, like roads, rail, and waterways, work better together. The DOT used data to figure out which routes are most important for moving freight, looking at where goods come from and where they need to go.
In creating the network, the DOT considered 12 important factors, such as the need for better connections between transportation methods and easier access to important distribution centers. Many people who gave feedback in April stressed the need for improved links between different transportation types and better access to key facilities.
One of the most common suggestions in the feedback was to add more highways to the freight network. As a result, the highway section of the draft map is 28% larger than the previous version from 2016. Many people wanted the entire National Highway System to be included in the network to handle the growing freight traffic.
This draft is part of an ongoing process. Congress approved an interim version of the map in 2015, which was signed into law by President Barack Obama. Since then, the DOT has made updates based on feedback, and this draft is the latest version. The final NMFN will help guide the future of freight movement across the country.
The feedback continues to shape the final map, with people emphasizing the importance of improving key intersections to make it easier to access major manufacturing and agricultural areas and focusing on routes that are important for local economies.
Once complete, the NMFN will be a vital tool for making sure goods move efficiently across the U.S.
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Sources for this article: Yahoo News, Freight Waves.
