New York State Freight Atlas

What is the Freight Web Atlas

• The Freight Web Atlas is an interactive, web-based map that displays freight-related transportation infrastructure, metrics, and constraints across New York State. New York State DOT
• It is maintained as part of NYSDOT’s Freight Transportation Plan (i.e. it is a digital “atlas” to support planning, decision-making, and stakeholder engagement). New York State DOT+1
• The Atlas is a “living” tool: NYSDOT indicates that it will be updated periodically as new data, projects, or freight analyses are added. New York State DOT

What is the NYS Freight Plan

• The Freight Transportation Plan is a statewide multimodal strategy to guide policy and investment decisions around freight in New York. New York State DOT+1
• The Plan covers all freight modes: highways/trucking, rail, marine (ports/waterways), intermodal connectors, border crossings, pipelines, and warehousing / logistics clusters. New York State DOT
• It is an update (or re‑visioning) of prior freight planning work; the current (“2024”) version reflects new input, changing conditions, and revised priorities. New York State DOT+1
• The plan is intended to help NYSDOT and other stakeholders make more informed, strategic investments — e.g. where to direct capital, how to coordinate with local governments, how to integrate freight into broader transportation planning. New York State DOT+1

Uses & Value in Freight Planning

Here’s how the Freight Web Atlas is useful (and what distinguishes it) in the context of NYS freight planning:

• Visualization & Communication
  Stakeholders (e.g. MPOs, local governments, port authorities, freight firms, public) can visually see freight flows, network constraints, and key corridors. This helps in communication, outreach, and consensus building.
• Prioritization & Investment
  By mapping which highway segments carry the most freight traffic (via AADTT) over the Freight Core Network, NYSDOT (and partners) can better prioritize which segments need maintenance, capacity upgrades, or targeted interventions.
• Identifying Gaps / Bottlenecks
  The map helps highlight missing intermodal connectors, segments where traffic is close to capacity, or areas where freight traffic is growing — thus informing where new investments or interventions (e.g. new connector roads, improved rail links) are warranted.
• Regional & Local Context
  Because the Atlas allows filtering by MPOs, counties, and REDC regions, local agencies can see how their area fits into the statewide freight system — helping ensure local investments align with broader freight needs.
• Data-Driven Decision Making
  The Atlas provides a geospatial database that links freight-related attributes (e.g. truck volume, facility connectivity) to physical network segments, which helps planners run scenario analyses, identify performance metrics, and monitor changes over time.
• Transparency & Accountability
  By making freight network data public, the Atlas supports transparency — stakeholders can see what segments are considered critical, how decisions are made, and hold agencies accountable in implementing freight investments.

Key Features & Data Layers / Thematic Content

From the information available, here are the major types of content and data themes embedded in the Atlas:

User Interface and Navigation

While live access was hampered in my test, here’s how the user interface appears to function (or is intended to function), based on the site’s visible elements and typical GIS mapping practices:

1. Initial View / Base Map
2. • When you open the Atlas, you likely see a statewide map of New York, overlaid with freight highway corridors, perhaps traffic volume shading, and major freight terminals.
   • The map is zoomable and pannable, enabling users to focus on regions of interest (e.g. the Capital Region, Buffalo, NYC, etc.).
2. Layer Control / Legend
3. • There is a legend or symbology showing ranges of Annual Average Daily Truck Traffic (from low to high), with colored shading or line weights. Freight Atlas
   • Users can probably turn on/off different layers (e.g. core highway network, terminals, connectors, MPO boundaries).
   • Geographies (counties, REDC, MPOs, census tracts) are selectable or viewable to help contextualize data by region. Freight Atlas
3. Interactive Query / Popups
4. • When you click on a roadway segment or freight facility, a popup likely appears showing its attributes (e.g. name, traffic volume, its status in the freight network, connector ID, etc.).
   • There may be additional links in popups to project-level info, relevant freight plan documents, or data sources.
4. Filtering / Search
5. • Users may filter or search by geography (e.g. show only segments in a given MPO, county, or REDC region).
   • There might be options to filter by traffic volume thresholds, or show only segments above certain truck volume levels.
5. Data Export / Download
6. • The Atlas may support exporting maps or underlying data (e.g. shapefiles, CSV) to let planners use the data in their own GIS/analysis environments.
   • It may also link to or embed reports or appendices (e.g. project lists, freight plan documents) corresponding to map features.
6. Updates / Versioning
7. • As new freight analyses are completed or new infrastructure is constructed, the map is intended to be updated to reflect the latest data and planning context. New York State DOT+1
   • There may be version notes or change logs indicating when updates occurred (though I did not confirm that in the public summary).