Alameda Corridor Exceeds Traffic, Revenue Projections.

LOS ANGELES COUNTY, Calif. -- Business is exceeding expectations in the Alameda Corridor, according to an analysis of cargo movement along the 20-mile railfreight expressway.

The Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority (ACTA) reports that fiscal year 2004 container traffic was 14.6 percent higher than in the previous fiscal year. Significantly, the Corridor carried 26.6 percent of total Los Angeles-Long Beach port volume in the fiscal year ended June 30, 2004, as compared to 25.9 percent of port volume during the previous year.

"With all of the recent studies linking diesel air pollution to long term health problems, it is important to note that the Alameda Corridor has been successful in removing the equivalent of 2.3 million truck trips from our roads annually," said ACTA Board Chairwoman Janice Hahn, a Los Angeles City Councilwoman. "This corridor is working, it is doing its job, and most importantly, it is improving the quality of life for Harbor-area residents."

Long Beach Councilman Frank Colonna, ACTA Board Vice Chairman, points out that the Corridor is providing additional capacity for growth during its first 20 years of service, a period expected to see significant growth in international trade. "The Corridor is a vital piece of the region's freight movement infrastructure. We are particularly pleased that the year to year analysis indicates such positive and growing use trends," he said.

The multi-tracked Alameda Corridor carried a daily average of 5,008 containers in FY04, 638 per day more than during FY03. That is three percent higher than the original 1998 forecasted number. The Corridor also had a better-than-projected revenue performance. Assessed fees and charges exceeded the previous year's numbers by 13.9 percent, with FY04 revenue totaling $62.3 million, compared to $54.7 million in FY03.

Corridor construction began in April 1997. The $2.4 billion project, delivered on-time and on-budget, consolidated four port access rail lines into a single expressway linking the ports to rail yards east of downtown Los Angeles.

In addition to use fees (traffic on the Corridor), ACTA collects container charges on some container moves outside the corridor itself. Including those containers, the growth of containers subject to ACTA fees or charges grew by 8.1 percent between FY03 and FY04.

Because of this success, ACTA was able to refinance its federal loans and pay back a $573 million federal Department of Transportation loan 28 years in advance of its maturity date earlier this year.