In December 2015, Thomas O’Brien, METRANS Associate Director of CSULB Programs, concluded work on two METRANS research projects, funded by Caltrans and USDOT.

The first study, Changing Workforce Development Needs for Regional Transit and Transportation Agencies in California, investigates the effect  that SB 375 has had on the workforce needs and constraints of Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) in the state. Through an intensive series of interviews and surveys engaging Councils of Government, Metropolitan Planning Organizations, and transit agency representatives, O’Brien and his three student assistants documented a pressing need for new personnel demonstrating “leadership building, supervisory, and technology skills” in the near future. This study contributes to our understanding of how policy changes place technical strain on regional planning bodies.

SB 375, passed by the California legislature in 2008, requires MPOs to accommodate regional greenhouse gas emission (GHG) reduction targets set by the California Air Resources Board for 2020 and 2035. In addition, each MPO must prepare a Sustainable Communities Strategy as a component of its regional transportation plan, detailing the planning strategies to be enforced to achieve the GHG reduction targets.

The results of the study surveys indicate that California MPOs need more workers with management and systems modeling skills in order to comply with SB 375, as well as to accommodate an industry-wide trend towards activity-based modeling work. The technologies and skillsets advanced by planning education and training programs must adapt to reflect these changing needs.

Dr. O’Brien was assisted in this research study by CSULB Center for International Trade and Transportation Director of Research Tyler Reeb, Matthew Alcala, Daniel Magno, and Chris Snyder.

The second study, Mitigating Urban Freight Through Effective Management of Truck Chassis, explores the performance of a pooled truck chassis supply strategy initiated by industry including the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach in March 2015. Chassis are the body frame components of trucks built to carry shipping containers.

Known by those involved as the “pool of pools,” the chassis pool consists of three independent providers—Direct ChassisLink Inc., Flexi-Van Leasing Inc., and TRAC Intermodal, collectively owning about 82,000 of the 100,000-plus truck chassis servicing the local ports—for  daily leasing by trucking companies. The intent was to introduce an alternative to the norm of ocean carriers owning their own chassis supplies, resulting in inefficient movement of trucks between terminals. East Coast port facilities have been early adopters of pooled chassis systems and have witnessed efficiency gains over several decades as a result, but this was the first instance of a similar program being deployed in Southern California.

O’Brien’s analysis, comprising 18 months of stakeholder interviews and surveys, concluded that the pooled chassis strategy improved efficiency of truck movement into and out of the ports, but had some shortcomings. The “pool of pools” method did not resolve inefficiencies in the chassis “roadability” (meaning highway use readiness) inspection and repair process. In addition, the program did not fully eliminate movement of empty chassis between port terminals or equipment hand-offs between operators at storage facilities, both of which the program was intended to reduce. The study found that stakeholders from the two ports believe the strategy is a “short and mid-term solution,” and O’Brien anticipates future experimentation in long-term pooled equipment lease methods and even in the European model of truck-operator-owned chassis supplies.

O’Brien believes the study’s findings provide a valuable lesson in port-contextual private sector stakeholder cooperation. He was assisted in this second study by Tyler Reeb and Annette Kunitsa.

Thomas O’Brien

Thomas O’Brien is the METRANS Associate Director for Long Beach Programs and the Executive  Director for the Center of International Trade and Transportation (CITT) at California State University, Long Beach. O’Brien earned a Masters in Urban and Regional Planning and a Ph.D. in Policy, Planning, and Development from the University of Southern California His policy research interests include freight logistics management in the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and institutional issues in transportation planning.

O’Brien can be reached at:

Thomas O’Brien

Center for International Trade and Transportation

California State University Long Beach

1000 N Studebaker Rd, Suite 3

Long Beach, CA 90815

[email protected]