Freight ToolsCS™
Putting Freight Data To Work

Freight ToolsCS™ developed by Cambridge Systematics is a freight planning and analysis tool that allows you to manipulate and analyze freight data more accurately, efficiently, and effortlessly. This multifunctional tool focuses on commodity and freight vehicle flow data using standard public and proprietary data sources for national, state, and metropolitan planning. Freight ToolsCS integrates freight data management, verification, and analysis; and it makes dealing with and analyzing freight data fast and efficient.

Benefits

Freight ToolsCS increases the accuracy and usefulness of commodity flow data by providing:

• Quicker link between freight data and decision-making. Freight ToolsCS quickly turns freight data into information you can use to drive freight planning and policy decisions
• Easy use by analysts and policy-makers. Our easy-to-use interface makes freight data manipulation and analysis more straightforward
• Better data quality control. Automated data verification features facilitate the identification and correction of data anomalies
• Automated data enhancements. Improve the scope of your freight data by seamlessly incorporating state-specific shipment value and truck volume information
• Rapid “what if” analysis capability. Simple data and reorganization features allow you rapidly to consider, analyze, and assess the impacts of different freight flow scenarios and answer "what if" questions from customers and stakeholders

Features

• GIS Utility. The GIS Utility for Freight Tools enables users to map truck and rail flows on a highway and rail network developed for the study region. The flows can be dissected by commodity, direction, and mode. The user can also look at specific links and get more detailed information such as volume by direction, as well as visually identifying the trading partners for a specific region or county by mode, commodity and direction. This tool was built on ESRI ArcMap 9.3
• Flexible data import system. Freight ToolsCS can manipulate and analyze data from many sources, including Reebie’s TRANSEARCH® database, FHWA Freight Analysis Framework (FAF) data, the Commodity Flow Survey (CFS), and state- or industry-specific commodity flow data
• Data warehouse. Freight ToolsCS includes a data warehouse, a central repository for national and state-specific commodity flow data and associated information
• Multiple export capabilities. To support further analysis, outputs of Freight ToolsCS can be exported quickly and seamlessly to other applications such as Excel, ArcView, or travel demand modeling software

Additional Information

For additional information, contact James J. Brogan of Cambridge Systematics at 512-494-5681.