From Port Strategy’s Dec. 20 “First call drive” article:
Oakland is storming the business ramparts to grab more traffic and get more shipping lines to use the port as the gateway to the Midwest and beyond. That means becoming the first port of call, and not being used only as the distribution point for the San Francisco Bay area and Northern California.
The main focus of this is the $750m development of 168 acres at a former army base – building new warehouses, distribution points and railway access for the two biggest rail operators on the West Coast, BNSF and Union Pacific. The port has long been handicapped because only 15% of its total container traffic moves by rail, the lowest percentage of the major gateways along the West Coast.