2.6.5 Evaluation procedure: Step 1— Identify 

 the commodity types. 



Identify the types of commodities susceptible to 

 movement on the waterway segment under consid- 

 eration. The level of detail for each commodity is 

 not prespecified; for example, in some cases 

 "grains" is detailed enough, while in others "corn," 

 "wheat" or "soybeans" is needed. 



(a) New waterways. Identify commodity types pri- 

 marily by interviews of shippers and by resource 

 studies. Interviews will identify primarily the benefit 

 potentials of a shift of mode; resource studies will 

 identify primarily the benefit potentials of shifts in 

 origin-destination and in new movements. 



(b) Existing waterways. Identify commodity types 

 primarily by analysis of data on existing use of the 

 watenway segment under study; e.g., data from the 

 Performance Monitoring System (PMS) and the Wa- 

 terborne Commerce Statistical Center (WCSC). 



2.6.6 Evaluation procedure: Step 2— Identify 

 the study area. 



The study area is the area within which signifi- 

 cant project impacts are incurred. The origins and 

 destinations of products likely to use the waterway 

 are normally included in the study area, broken out 

 by river segments. 



(a) New waterways. Determine the origins and 

 destinations primarily by interviews of shippers and 

 by resource studies. 



(b) Ex/sting waterways. Determine ongins and 

 destinations by analysis of data on existing use of 

 the watenway segment under study; e.g., PMS and 

 WCSC traffic traced to its ultimate origin and desti- 

 nation. 



2.6.7 Evaluation procedure: Step 3— Determine 

 current commodity flow. 



Gather current data for commodity movements 

 between origin-destination pairs susceptible to wa- 

 terway movement as well as for commodities cur- 

 rently transported by waterway. 



(a) New waterways. This step seeks to identify 

 the total tonnage that could benefit from using the 

 waterway. Obtain this information primarily by inter- 

 views of shippers. For benefits from shifts in origin 

 and destination and from new movements, care 

 must be taken to identify whether such movement 

 would be likely to occur if waterway transportation 

 were available; base this information primarily on in- 

 terviews. Give particular attention to delivered price 

 from substitute sources in the case of benefits from 

 shifts in origin and destination, and to resource and 



market analysis in the case of benefits from new 

 movements. Assess current transportation costs in 

 the area. 



(b) Existing waterways. This step seeks to identi- 

 fy uses beyond the existing use of the waterway; it 

 seeks to identify potential commodities that might 

 use the waterway in response to a reduced trans- 

 portation charge. 



2.6.8 Evaluation procedure: Step 4— Determine 

 current costs of waterway use. 



Determine current costs of waterway use for all 

 the tonnage identified in step 3. Include in the wa- 

 terway transportation cost the full origin-to-destina- 

 tion costs, including handling, transfer, demurrage, 

 and prior and subsequent hauls for the tonnages 

 identified in step 3. Consider the effect of seasona- 

 lity on costs. In calculating the cost of prior and 

 subsequent hauls, care must be taken to avoid in- 

 appropriate aggregations and averaging of the 

 costs of movements in situations in which there is a 

 wide geographic dispersion in ultimate origins and/ 

 or destinations, as in the case of grain traffic. 



(a) New waterways. The current cost of the pro- 

 posed waterway use represents the with-project 

 condition; there are no without-project costs for wa- 

 ten^/ay transportation. 



(b) Existing wateAways. Construct two arrays, one 

 representing the without-project and one the with- 

 project condition. The difference between the two 

 arrays reflects the reduction in current delays and 

 any gains in efficiencies resulting from the alterna- 

 tive under consideration. 



2.6.9 Evaluation procedure: Step 5— Determine 

 current cost of alternative movement. 



Determine the current cost of alternative move- 

 ment for all the tonnages identified in step 3. The 

 cost includes the full origin-to-destination costs, in- 

 cluding costs of handling, transfer, demurrage, and 

 prior and subsequent hauls. Consider the effect of 

 seasonality on costs. In calculating the costs of 

 gathering or distribution prior or subsequent to the 

 primary line haul, care must be taken to avoid inap- 

 propriate aggregations and averaging of the costs 

 of movements in situations in which the ultimate 

 origins and/or destinations are widely dispersed, as 

 the case of grain traffic. This procedure uses price 

 data when available as a proxy for the long-run 

 costs of movement by other modes. This step, 

 combined with steps 3 and 4, generates a first ap- 

 proximation of a demand schedule for watenway 

 transportation given (1) the costs of transportation 



53 



