CNMI starts works on intermodal transportation plan

The CNMI government has entered into an agreement with a professional engineering services firm, WSP USA, for multiple studies and reports regarding intermodal transportation within the CNMI.

Intermodal transportation refers to a combination of two or more different modes of transportation, such as transportation by air and transportation by sea. WSP’s studies and reports will provide CNMI agencies such as the Commonwealth Ports Authority with an assessment of the current state of intermodal transportation within the CNMI and recommendations regarding the enhancement of CNMI infrastructure to facilitate the more efficient transportation of goods and services. These assessments and recommendations will be incorporated into an interagency strategic long-range intermodal transportation plan that will help guide local CNMI agencies’ collaborative efforts to improve transportation within the CNMI.

“The intermodal study that is being undertaken will provide CNMI agencies with information that will be useful in determining future project priorities,” said the CPA executive director Christopher S. Tenorio. “The plan will help CNMI agencies eliminate inefficiencies in the transportation of goods and services, which will, in turn, lead to lower freight costs and lower consumer prices.”

Specifically, the project will produce a CPA Strategic Long-Rang Intermodal Transportation Plan (Intermodal Transportation Plan) composed of infrastructure condition assessment, adjacent CNMI utilities and infrastructure summary, surface transportation evaluation, financial analysis model and report, cargo analysis summary and tariff analysis summary to support identifying a priority list of future improvement projects. A public-private partnership white paper will also be created to identify options to consider for the improvement projects.

“The development of the Intermodal Transportation Plan demonstrates the CNMI’s collaborative interagency approach to enhancing transportation on island,” said Tenorio. “I’d like to provide a special thanks to Ms. Glenna Sakisat Palacios of the Commonwealth Bureau of Military Affairs, who was instrumental in engaging this contractor on behalf of and for the benefit of the entire CNMI.”

The study and development of the report are ongoing. WSP is currently collecting information from various CNMI agencies and stakeholders to form its initial assessment of intermodal transportation within the CNMI. (CPA)