Introduction
An intermodal transport system is a significant aspect that involves the transportation of goods or passenger via numerous modes of transportation such as the truck, rail, airplane, and ship (Holguín-Veras, Paaswell & Perl, 2008) . Most importantly, freight utilizes multiple transportation modes to move from one place to another. Therefore, in numerous nations especially in the United States, freight transportation system has become essential due to the continuous increase in customers who are looking for freight services to transport goods to other places. This essay aims at supporting the idea of the author that the federal government should take the initiative for improvements in the intermodal transportation to ensure continuous development and smooth running of the transportation system.
The author shows concern for insufficient innovations on intermodal transportation systems that are taking place in the United States. The author also sees that there is a lot more that can be done by the government to improve the transportation systems in America. The analysis that the author has done shows these innovation gaps and provides insights on how the problem of defining and implementing intermodal innovation initiatives can be handled (Konings, 2008) . The intermodal transportation system needs to be improved to promote the competitive edge of the American economy and to de-escalate the negative environmental and wellbeing externalities. According to the author, there is a great urge of implementing proactive policies for fostering intermodal transport innovation to hinder congestion that is caused by freight transportation activities (Konings, 2008) . Thus, to support these innovations, the American government needs to introduce a durable transportation finance planning and operations.
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Transportation systems especially freight transport have important contributions that have resulted in key international, local and regional economic development across the globe. The significance of these contributions is manifest in the United States’ case, which has provided a decent instance of the economic meaning of freight. The rate at which the transportation system is developing calls for government support in this sector. In past years around 1997, most businesses and industries depended on cargo transportation whereby the transported cargo worth approximately $6.9 trillion and weighed about 11 billion tones (Holguín-Veras, Paaswell & Perl, 2008) . At an individual level, the Americans were spending more on transportation than they did on operating their households, recreation activities, buying clothes as well as intercity travel as a combination. Therefore, this is an apparent reason as to why the government should play a role in transportation systems innovations to prevent the citizens from bearing the burden in the transportation sector.
Intermodal transportation is a joint enterprise. Most importantly, freight transportation can be a combination of enterprises such as the government and the private sector (Crainic & Kim, 2007) . Both bodies have specific roles that they play whereby the private firm in involved in providing direct services to shippers and elements of infrastructure. On the other hand, the government is engaged in giving major infrastructure elements such as ports, airports, highways, inland waterways and airways. The changes that are taking place in the industry are very rapid, and this calls for government intervention in the transportation sector, which involves the review of the already established government programs. Nonetheless, government support of transportation systems is indicated through the invention of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act, which took place in 1991 (Congress, 1991) . Ideally, this Act has been governing the disbursement of numerous annual revenues that range from fuel to vehicle excise taxes for highways.
Moreover, the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act has been an essential approach for the government to serve in the transportation sector. The declaration of the Act requires the government of the United States to establish a National Intermodal Transportation System that is cautiously reliable and ecologically logical. Therefore, it becomes the role of the government to ensure that a transportation system that offers the foundation for the United States to contest in the universal economy is created. The Act has also guided the government of what the transportation system should consist. The system should entail all types of transportation that are unified and interconnected to prevent increased consumption of energy as it promotes economic growth.
The intermodal transportation systems face multiple potential disruptors, and the government requires to intervene to give the necessary assistance that helps in overcoming these challenges. For instance, the intermodal rail in North America may not have the tech start-ups that seek to lead to the transformation of the industry, although there is plenty of innovation coming down the tracks (Konings, 2008). Therefore, there are a lot of opportunities for addressing the opportunities that are currently present for the government to initiate the performance of the intermodal freight transport. Ideally, this has made the authorities to prescribe all the necessities for the enactment of intermodal improvements and outline the policies that are required to enhance its effectiveness.
Conclusion
In summary, the American transportation system has faced numerous challenges, which require the government to intervene to promote productive development. The system contributes significantly to the economic growth and therefore, needs regular renovation and improvement to play its role as expected. Thus, it is the government's role to ensure that adequate innovations are performed on the intermodal transportation system to achieve a competitive edge of the American economy.
References
Congress, U. S. (1991). Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act. Pub. L , 102-240.
Crainic, T. G., & Kim, K. H. (2007). Intermodal transportation. Handbooks in operations research and management science , 14 , 467-537.
Holguín-Veras, J., Paaswell, R., & Perl, A. (2008). The role of government in fostering intermodal transport innovations: perceived lessons and obstacles in the United States. The Future of Intermodal Freight Transport. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar , 302-24.
Konings, J. W. (2008). The future of intermodal freight transport: operations, design, and policy . Edward Elgar Publishing.
