Assessment of Truck Border Crossing at Imperial County Port of Entry

Cities and municipalities across the United States are faced with the difficult task of planning adequate transportation infrastructure and freight facilities that enhance goods movement in their region. This is particularly challenging for regions with international borders and limited information on true origin-destination patterns and travel times. Successful planning efforts in these areas generally seek to reduce congestion and delay, improve travel time reliability, and/or enhance safety. However, potential shifts of commodity flows and traffic across modes, routes, and ports of entry present significant challenges. Successful infrastructure planning, therefore, hinges on accurate and reliable multimodal freight data gathered and validated through consensus among various transportation and business stakeholders. The Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG), the largest metropolitan planning organization in the nation, recently conducted a study to assess the flow of commerce at the California-Baja California border of Imperial County. Data collected would help to develop freight planning strategies to address long term trade and transportation infrastructure needs in the region. This study documents the current commodity flow patterns and associated economic activity in that border region. It also examines the trends and characteristics of international trade that determine the demand for freight activities across the border, focusing on international trade between the U.S. and Mexico. This includes consideration of regional economic integration along the border and an assessment of goods movement activities associated with the maquiladora industry. This paper summarizes some of the key findings of the study in terms of current supply chain structure in the region, data collection using Origin-Destination (O/D) surveys, measurement of crossing times at the border, economic implications, and policy recommendations.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper was sponsored by TRB committee AT020 International Trade and Transportation.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Seetharam, Rajeev
  • Jones, Mike
  • Nam, Annie
  • Bekka, Khalid
  • Gros, Stéphane
  • Solis, Alejandro
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 92nd Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 2013-1-13 to 2013-1-17
• Date: 2013

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; Maps; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 18p
• Monograph Title: TRB 92nd Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Commodity flow; Data collection; Freight traffic; Origin and destination; Strategic planning; Supply chain management; Travel time
• Identifier Terms: Southern California Association of Governments
• Geographic Terms: Mexico; United States
• Subject Areas: Freight Transportation; Planning and Forecasting; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01475552
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 13-0833
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Mar 14 2013 12:46PM