Although this isn't directly surface transportation like most of the other posts on here, the competitiveness of the Ports of LA and Long Beach is extraordinarily important to the economic health of Southern California.
I recently attended an event. "Powering our Future," sponsored by the South Coast Air Quality Management District. The Ports of LA/LB are doing some very good and interesting work to reduce the environmental impacts of the cargo ships going there.
Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach building at furious pace
The Los Angeles and Long Beach ports are building new piers, wharves and rail yards to compete for cargo business. The upgrades will cost about $6 billion.
Concrete piles are pounded into place in May for a new cargo ship pier at the Port of Los Angeles as the L.A. and Long Beach ports embark on their most ambitious expansion and renovation projects to date. (Don Bartletti, Los Angeles Times / July 20, 2012)
By Ronald D. White
Los Angeles Times
July 19, 2012
"At the edge of San Pedro Bay, home of North America's largest cargo complex, they're building new piers, wharves and rail yards at a furious pace to further dwarf the competition.
So much construction is underway that the new facilities by themselves would move more freight than the entire port of Savannah, Ga., which ranks No. 4 among the continent's ports.
The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, first and second in the cargo-movement hierarchy, respectively, are hauling in so much dirt, they would have enough land to build a twin of Universal Studios Hollywood with enough left over to fill 100 football stadiums with 20 inches of muck. Long Beach alone expects to use 6,000 truckloads of concrete..."
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-f...,3659702.story