Indiana’s Future Freight Traffic Optimization Model

<p>This project focuses on forecasting freight logistics needs and developing and analyzing capacity plans for INDOT to consider. The forecast timeframe ranges from 2020 to 2045; the commodities considered are those used in the FHWA framework. Five SSP (Shared Socio-Economic Pathways) scenarios that are in sync with those used by the IPCC (International Protocol for Climate Change) were considered. The IPCC forecasts of world GDP and FHWA forecasts to develop county-level freight forecasts by commodity were also used. A survey of industry participants, primarily in manufacturing, suggests that Indiana industries are tied to the rest of the country and the world for supply of inputs as well as for demand markets. Initially, three industry-based case studies were developed based on past studies and data. Data from these case studies was used to illustrate the impact of bill of materials and growth forecasts on forecasted congestion and potential capacity mitigation using an opensolver-based (<a href="https://opensolver.org/">https://opensolver.org/</a>; latest version 2.9.3) optimization model developed in Excel spreadsheets.</p>