| The University of Southern Mississippi has received a federal grant to study the impact of the increased use of hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as fracking, on freight transportation distribution patterns.
The grant directed to the Department of Economic Development and Tourism in the College of Business comes from the U.S. Department of Transportation Research and Innovative Technology Administration.
The project is a collaborative effort among USM, Vanderbilt University and the University of Alabama at Huntsville as part of a university transportation center consortium research program. Vanderbilt will serve as the project leader.
The ultimate goal is to provide guidance for freight transportation planners and policy makers in determining where to concentrate their attention to mitigate safety and economic risks.
The USM team will focus on the emerging Tuscaloosa Marine Shale region that stretches across southwest Mississippi into Louisiana.
“Fracking in Mississippi will present great opportunities and challenges, particularly on the transportation arena,” said Tulio Sulbaran, director of USM’s Center for Logistics, Trade and Transportation, which is also involved in the research.
“Fracking activities mainly rely on trucks which travel through our roads providing job opportunities as well as additional demands on our roads.” |