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Show TABLE 4.-Annual Federal costs, traffic in ton-miles, and average Federal costs per ton-mile, all rivers, canals, and connecting channels reporting ton-miles, by waterway systems, 1946 1 Annual cost of new work, computed at 3.89 percent of cost of new work, includes interest and amortization. J Maintenance, operation, and care computed on a 5-year average basis, 1942-46. Source: Data from Annual Report of the Chief of Engineers, U. S. Army, 1947: computations by Research Branch, Economics Division, Board of Engineers for Rivers and Harbors, Corps of Engineers, Department of the Army. on full cost, including user charges for water carriers, it would be an aid to attaining the na- tional transportation goal of allocation of traffic in accordance with the inherent advantage of each mode of transportation. An interconnected system of modern waterways, coordinated with land transportation into a national transportation system, should be able, under a full-cost pricing system for all modes of transport, to sustain itself by user charges and yield large returns on the public investment in lower transportation costs, stimulating the most economic use of our re- sources and contributing to the national wealth, security, and defense. Necessity for Over-All Program The conflicts which exist between transporta- tion regulatory policy and waterway develop- mental policy, under which we build waterways to get low-cost transportation and then fail to make full use of them after they are con- structed are based on the following facts: (1) Although the bulk of water commerce is unregu- lated, certain limitations have been established since 1940 on the entry of water carriers into business which restrict their freedom to operate; (2) adequate joint land-and-water through routes and rates have not been established; (3) rates are not based on cost. Railroads are per- mitted to cut rates to move traffic which might otherwise go by water and to recoup their rev- enues by increasing the rail rates on non-water- competitive traffic. Basically these conflicts in policy arise from legislation and administrative practices dealing independently with separate phases of transporta- tion development and transportation regulation. Present policy fails to provide a means for giving broad consideration to the over-all transportation needs of the country, or to promote coordination of our separate carriers and modes of transporta- tion into an economical national transportation system, with every type of transportation func- tioning in accordance with its inherent advan- tages, as contemplated in the policy declaration of the 1940 Transportation Act. Other conflicts exist in the field of water re- sources as to development of use of water for navigation versus other alternative uses. Here again the basic difficulty is the lack of a unified policy in promoting and administering the vari- ous segments of water resources development and use in harmony with comprehensive national and regional objectives. An analysis of the parts played by the Federal agencies principally responsible for water trans- portation, the legislative framework in which they operate, and the conflicts and inconsistencies which arise therefrom is contained in appendix 5 of this report. The Army Engineers are princi- pally responsible for the engineering and eco- 911609-5C -17 215 Annual Federal costs, 1946 Annual Federal costs per ton-mile Eivers, canals, and connecting channels of- Tialmiles ^^ New work i ^ainte- Total Newwork Tgta^ Tota, Atlantic coast_______________.................- $6,449,767 $4,564,025 $11,013,792 2,584,384,000 $0.0025 $0.0018 $0.0043 Gulfcoast-....._____________......_________ 3,643,461 2,884,567 6,628,028 5,431,888,000 .0007 .0005 .0012 Pacific coast____............____________......- 2,344,499 2,619,926 4,964,425 1,583,899,000 .0015 .0017 .0031 Mississippi River System____................... 29,349,615 18,052,063 47,401,678 18,358,310,000 .0016 .0010 .0026 Great Lakes.-.......-.......................... 7,282,303 4,002,081 11,284,384 96,030,964,000 .0008 .00004 .00012 Total, United States....................... 49,069,645 32,122,662 81,192,307 123,989,445,000 .00040 .00026 .00065 |