FOR RELEASE
Contact: Dennis Watson (202) 245-0234
02/15/2017 (Wednesday)
Michael Higgins (202) 245-0238
No. 17-4


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www.stb.gov
STB ADOPTS TENTATIVE MEASURE OF THE AVERAGE CHANGE IN RAIL INDUSTRY PRODUCTIVITY FOR 2011-2015, INVITES COMMENTS, AND SCHEDULES FEBRUARY 28 TECHNICAL CONFERENCE


The Surface Transportation Board announced that it is adopting a tentative measure of average change in railroad industry productivity for the 2011-2015 period. The Board tentatively adopts 1.020 (2.0 percent per year) as the long-run measure of productivity, an increase of 0.6 percent from the average of the 2010-2014 period.


Each year, the Board calculates the change, if any, in railroad industry productivity by comparing year-to-year the average cost of producing a unit of railroad output. This year’s calculation was affected by a change in how distances are measured that affected the yearly change in revenue ton-miles – an input to the Board’s calculation of the change in productivity. Given the unique circumstances of this year’s productivity adjustment calculation, the Board is scheduling a public technical conference between interested persons and Board staff and soliciting public comments.


At the technical conference, staff of the Office of Economics will provide an overview of this year’s productivity adjustment calculation. At the conclusion of the overview, staff will take questions and encourage dialogue from attendees. The technical conference will be held on February 28, 2017, at 10:00 a.m. in the agency’s Hearing Room at 395 E Street, S.W., Washington, D.C., 20423-0001. Stakeholders planning to attend the conference are requested to RSVP to the Office of Public Assistance, Governmental Affairs, and Compliance at (202) 245-0238 by 5:00 p.m. February 24, 2017. The conference will also be accessible on the Board’s website, www.stb.gov, via live video streaming.


Opening comments are due by March 16, 2017, and reply comments are due by April 5, 2017.


The STB’s decision in Railroad Cost Recovery Procedures—Productivity Adjustment, EP 290 (Sub-No. 4), may be viewed and downloaded at www.stb.gov, under "E-LIBRARY / Decisions & Notices / 02/ 14 / 17".


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