Transportation Operations Group11

Americas 2020

International Trade and

Transportation Summit

Travel Time/Wait Time Studies at Commercial Crossings

Esther HitzfelderTexas Department of Transportation

Transportation Operations Group2

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Agenda1. Why Measuring Commercial Crossing/Wait Times

2. Implementation Process

– Technology Assessment

– Implementation Plans

– Implementation Steps

– Lessons Learned

3. Operation

– Data analysis and dissemination

• Real time data

• Archived data

4. Next Steps

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FHWA undertaking a Freight Performance Measurement initiative

– Measuring travel times in freight significant corridors across the country

– At major commercial land Ports of Entry

Projects focus on travel time and variability of travel time

Variability and lack of reliability in travel time contribute to freight costs

Less competitive in the global marketplace

Why Measure Commercial

Crossing/Wait Times

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Delay time for commercial motor vehicles entering and leaving the U.S. at ports-of-entry with Mexico is a key indicator of transportation and international supply-chain performance.

Coordination at Border Ports of Entry

“There is no systematic and consistent way of measuring border crossing time at

land ports of entry”

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Why Measure Commercial

Crossing/Wait Times

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Wait Time and Crossing Time

Wait time

– CBP and FHWA defined wait time as the time it takes a vehicle to cross into the US from the beginning of the queue to the CBP Primary Inspection booths.

Crossing time

– Time required to cross into the US from the beginning of the queue to end of the process, where the vehicle is in the free flow.

– Allows calculation of border delay5

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Border Crossing Delay

Free Flow Crossing Time

Optimal Crossing Time

High-Volume Crossing Time

Cumulative Travel Time

Mexican Export Lot

U.S. Federal Compound

Truck Path

State Safety Inspection Facility

Delay Time

Process Time

Difference between the observed crossing time and

the optimal crossing time

Border Crossing Delay = (observed truck crossing time) –

(optimal truck crossing time)

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Transportation Operations Group7

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Six Technologies were Analyzed

– Automatic Vehicle Identification (AVI)

» AVI using Laser Frequency

» AVI using Radio Frequency (RFID)

» AVI using Infrared Frequency

– Automatic License Plate Recognition (ALPR)

– Vehicle Matching

– Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL)

» GPS

– Mobile Phone Location

– Inductive Loop Detectors

– Bluetooth

Two Technologies Emerged as Best Candidates

– GPS

– RFID

Technology Assessment

Implementation

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GPS

Benefits

– Data is precise

– Some carriers already use GPS to monitor fleets

– Environmental impact of wait times can be estimated

Concerns

– The continuing costs of operation is high

– CBP and DPS use different technologies

– Carrier cooperation is essential for this type of system

– GPS equipment must be distributed and installed in enough tractors to assure a sufficient sample size of data collected

Technology Assessment

Implementation

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RFID

Benefits

– RFID technology already in use by CBP for FAST program,

Tolling Systems and is being implemented by DPS at

State Inspection Facilities

– No in-truck equipment installation required

– Continuing costs of operation is relatively low

Concerns

– Data collected is not as precise as GPS

– Agreements must be made with US / Mexican agencies to

install RFID readers Information system more

complicated than GPS

Implementation

Technology Assessment

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Recommendations

RFID technology is best suited to meet project objectives at the Texas and Arizona POEs

– Veterans, Brownsville

– Pharr-Reynosa

– Laredo

– Colombia

– Bridge of the Americas, El Paso

– Mariposa, Nogales

Implementation

Technology Assessment

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Installation of at least 2 measuring locations at the

bridge

1 before queue on Mexican side

1 at exit of State Inspection Facility

Other measuring locations can be added to “segment”

crossing times

1 before the beginning of the physical bridge

1 at the CBP primary inspection booth* (this allows

calculation of Wait Times)

Implementation

Planning

Transportation Operations Group12

A new addition to the system is installation of readers

at the CBP primary commercial lanes.

After the Peer Exchange meeting in San Antonio in

November, 2009, CBP suggested /approved installing

equipment to calculate “Wait Time”.

After coordination with CBP local and Washington, local

authorities, GSA, and FHWA, a successful test was

conducted on August 17 to ensure that the RFID equipment

did not interfere with any CBP systems.

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Implementation

Planning

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Exit of DPS Facility

Beginning of the Queue

Bridge of the Americas, El Paso, Texas

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ImplementationInstallation

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Reader Locations

Veterans in Brownsville

1. Identify Potential

Reader Location

2. Define site

characteristics and

needs

3. Final design

4. Equipment

procurement

5. Equipment Installation

6. Testing

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Implementation

Steps

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Reader Location and Characteristics

R1 – Matamoros

Farthest

point before

queue starts

Sign covering

two lanes

Solar

powered

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Reader Location and Characteristics

R3 - Veterans

CBP

Primary

truck lanes

Power

provided

by CBP

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Reader Location and Characteristics

R4 -- @ DPS exit. 1 reader, solar power, needs pole

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Potential Measuring Location at

CBP Primary Inspection BoothsImplementationFinal Design

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Bridge of the Americas, El Paso, Texas

ImplementationInstallation

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El Paso

Pharr Region

Laredo Region

Brownsville

Region

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OperationCentralized Control of Sparsely Located RFID Systems

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Provide Border Crossings Related

Pre-Trip Traveler Information

• Provide a single window of information.

• Provide mechanisms to “push” and “pull”

information.

1

• Archived data source for planners,

researchers and decision makers.

• Estimate economic impact of border

crossing delay.

• Calibrate cross-border traffic assignment

models.

• Long –range transportation planning of

border infrastructure

Develop a

Centralized

Repository of

Border

Crossing Data

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Data Dissemination

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Operation

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Possible Data Dissemination

> 45 min

31 min – 45 min

< 30 min

Current Truck

Crossing Time

at Pharr

Transportation Operations Group23

Possible Data Dissemination

Reports

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Lessons Learned

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Troubleshooting equipment at remote locations is

difficult

Coordination with multiple stakeholders binationally is

time consuming

Not all POEs are the same

Installation takes more time than expected

Need to plan for constant change

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Next Steps

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Hardware

Finalize equipment installation and testing at all

POEs

Troubleshoot minor issues

Software

Define real-time dissemination tools

Develop final catalog of reports

Define long-term operation of the system

Transportation Operations Group26

Questions / Comments

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Esther Hitzfelder

Texas Department of Transportation

International Relations Office

Government & Public Affairs Division

Ph: (512) 416-2030

Esther.Hitzfelder@txdot.gov