Houston port mulls electric shuttle to move freight

BRYAN -- State, port and transportation institute officials on Friday announced an agreement to move toward building a freight shuttle between the port's Bayport and Barbour's Cut terminals.

The agreement commits port officials to study the economic and engineering feasibility of the shuttle, and exactly where building one to handle port traffic makes sense. Though no final decisions have been made, the analysis at the port focuses on a freight shuttle to carry cargo containers or tractor-trailers between the two terminals, moving at a top speed of 30 mph, for about five miles along Texas 146.

"It has transformed from this great idea to something that is really quite real," Port of Houston Authority executive director Roger Guenther said.

The exact route, cost and who would pay for it will be part of the next few months of study. Stephen Roop, a Texas A&M Transportation Institute researcher, said he's hopeful a shuttle could be operational on Houston's docks within three years, with one year of study and two years of construction.

Though officials have focused on private funding, a freight shuttle could be eligible for public money. In Houston, officials could use federal money funneled to the state related to reducing vehicle congestion to help build a shuttle, if it was shown to decrease pollution by removing diesel trucks from highways.

The shuttle's potential to speed cargo handling and reduce emissions drew accolades from state officials.

"Imagine the way these port facilities will look without those clogged roadway systems," Gov. Greg Abbott said during a press conference in Bryan to announce the shuttle's anticipated launch in Houston.

Though the shuttle is capable of carrying cargo at 70 mph, it's development has taken a slow, methodical pace, from computer models to scale models to a full-sized system now sitting in a barn-sized building at the end of a nondescript road near Bryan's general aviation airport.