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The research measured quantifiable impacts of shortline railroad abandonment in Kansas through the following four research tasks. First, an assessment of Kansas county road conditions and financing was conducted to determine the ability of counties to absorb the resulting incremental heavy truck traffic. Second, the changes in wheat handling and transportation costs were computed. Third, the increase in truck-attributable road damage costs to Kansas county and state roads was computed. Fourth, the additional highway accident benefits and costs attributable to the resulting incremental truck traffic were calculated. The western two-thirds of Kansas was selected as the study area. County road officials were interviewed and surveyed to assess county road conditions and finances. Geographic information system (GIS) routing software was used to model the wheat handling and transportation costs with and without shortline railroads. Using the results of the GIS transportation model and an existing pavement damage model, the additional damage costs to county and state roads were calculated. Finally, the safety cost was calculated using the estimated increased truck miles driven, accidents per mile traveled data and costs per accident.
Changes have occurred in the Kansas grain transportation system that have increased trucking of grain. Class I railroads in Kansas have encouraged the construction of unit train (100 or more railcars) loading facilities on their main lines. Kansas farmers will truck their grain a much greater distance to obtain the higher grain price at the unit train loading location. Farmers will bypass the local grain elevator, and the shortline railroad serving it, and truck the grain to the unit train loading facility, resulting in increased road damage costs. The increasing size of grain railcars threatens to reduce shortline railroad grain traffic and increase grain trucking. The new super jumbo covered hopper cars have loaded weights of 286,000 pounds, much higher than most of the shortline railroad track in Kansas is capable of handling. As the percentage of the grain car fleet that can move on shortlines declines, grain shippers will have no alternative but to truck their grain to terminal markets.