According to a new report by Expansion Management Magazine, “nothing is quite so important to a regionÂ’s economy than the transportation infrastructure upon which it moves. Without a doubt, transportation is the foundation upon which all logistics is built.” Thus, they compared 362 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) in the U.S. on the basis of their interstate, water port, air cargo, and rail access and compiled a report they call “2005 Logistics Quotient: The Top Logistics Metros in the United States.”
How did Peoria* fare? Overall, we made it into the top 20% which earned us a “five-star logistics metro” rating. Specifically, Peoria did best in rail access (10th-best in the country) — in part because of the number of carriers that service our metro. In other areas, Peoria scored:
- 81st in interstate highway access
- 116th in air cargo access
- 178th in water port access
Peoria fared worst in the category of “Vehicle Taxes and Fees”: 320th. “This category includes highway user taxes and fees, as well as motor fuel excise taxes,” according to the magazine. Being in Illinois, we’re already at a disadvantage, thanks to the governor’s increase on trucking fees. But when you add Peoria’s city fuel tax, it’s easy to see how we can be one of the worst in the nation.
Peoria’s overall good rating is being promoted by the Central Illinois EDC and TransPORT (the Heart of Illinois Regional Port District). TransPORT is an initiative “designed to aggressively promote the Peoria region as a center for intermodal logistics and as an attractive and logical business location,” according to Dan Silverthorn, Chairman, TransPORT board of directors. Here’s to hoping it’s successful!
*Peoria’s MSA includes Peoria, Tazewell, Woodford, Marshall and Stark counties. An MSA is an urban area that has a core city of at least 50,000 inhabitants within its corporate limits, or contains an urbanized area of at least 50,000 inhabitants and has a total population of at least 100,000 (defined by federal Office of Management and Budget).