Routing Hazardous Materials around the District of Columbia Area

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.