Abstract
ABSTRACT
The recent hazardous material (hazmat) shipment ban in Washington, DC has
led to debates, legal challenges, and considerations by other major cities to
pursue similar actions. This paper presents a methodology for evaluating
hazmat shipment routing options on railroad networks under situations such
as the shipment ban. A case study involves three alternatives is presented.
Population and other vulnerable people within a 0.8 km (or 0.5 mile) radius
buffer zone along the rail line are used to evaluate the potential risk
associated with ultra hazardous material shipments.
Based on this study, it is concluded that moderate increases in ton-km,
subsequently time in-transit, will be resulted from the rerouting. On the other
hand, the overall population-at-risk will see a reduction. The population-atrisk
burden, however, is simply shifted from one location to other locations.
This paper also identifies areas for potential follow-up efforts.