b'MARCH 2026American Journal ofTransportation 3Despite headwindsPACIFIC COAST PORTS 2026Californias ports forge ahead CaliforniasportslikeLosAngeles,Long Beach and Oakland, among the nations larg-est are forging ahead with strong container volumes and investments for the future.By Stas Margaronis, AJOTS anP edroB ayL eadS theW ay optionswhichcouldinclude The two California ports ofbuilding a new crossing.San Pedro Bay, the Port of LosPortOptimizer.ThePort AngelesandthePortofLongOptimizer by Wabtec has been Beachtogethercomprisethedeliveringreal-timeinsights largest container handling gate- to thousands of our partners for way in the United States and onenearlyadecade.Weveadded of the top containerport hubs innew tools like The Signal which theentireworld.In2025,Santracks all imports headed to the Pedroportscollectivelyhan- Port with a three-week window dled just over 20 million TEUs, thats visibility no other US despite the headwinds caused by(HEADWINDScontinued on tariffs and other economic andpage 4) The Port of Oakland began 2026 by handling 195,897 TEUs in January.geo-political factors. t heP ort ofL oSa ngeLeSThe Port of Los Angeles is the largest containerport in the USandgloballyconsistently ranksinsidethetoptwenty. In2025thePorthandled10.2 million TEUs, third best in the Ports 118-year history. Execu- The Port of Long Beach.Port of Los Angeles tive Director Eugene Seroka out-lined his vision for the Ports future by highlighting Build Bigger andAlways open. Always moving.Build Smarter investment priori-ties at the State of the Port of Los Angeles 2026 that took place on January 22, 2026. Long Beach International Gateway Bridge is fully operationalInthepresentationSeroka identifiedanumberofnewalways ready to serve ALL of the San Pedro Bay. Port investments and initiatives including: Pier 500 Container Terminal. The proposed Pier 500 Marine ContainerTerminalisthefirst newcontainerterminaltobe developedinagenerationand willbebuiltontwohundred acres and three thousand linear feetofwharfspacetocreate vital new capacity: In October, we released a Request for Pro-posals to evaluate the interest. MaritimeSupportFacility. The new Maritime Support Facil-ity is developing on 80 acres of under-utilizedlandrightinthe middle of Terminal Island. Now in the design stage, it will serve as a dedicated hub for chassis parking and maintenance, as well as con-tainer pick-up and drop-off. Pier 300 On Dock Rail Expan-sion. On Pier 300, in addition to the on-dock rail expansion cur-rently underway, Were in final discussionswithFenixMarine Terminaltodevelop40-acres that currently sit vacant on the east side of the terminal.VincentThomasBridge Upgrade. Seroka reports: The bridge needs redecking to make itsaferforthe50,000vehicles that cross it daily. But heres the biggerissue:Wealsoneedto raise or replace it to unlock our fullterminalcapacitynorthof the bridge. We pushed to do both together.Thattimelinesimply didntwork.Butthisissueis notgoingaway. Abridgebuilt foryesterdaysshipscannotbe an obstacle for tomorrows Port. Were working with the Gover-nors Office and California trans-portation officials to explore all'