Document Type

Research Report

Publication Date

2011

Keywords

Transportation, Border Security

Abstract

In the spring of 2011, a pilot project at the southbound Pacific Highway Crossing (PHC) tested the impact of opening the previously restricted FAST lane at the PHC to all commercial freight traffic. The FAST, or Free and Secure Trade program (USCBP, 2005), was designed to increase the security of southbound commercial freight into the United States. To qualify for FAST, carriers, drivers, and shippers are required to follow certain security procedures which aim to enhance the safety and security of the border. Trucks enrolled in FAST are then allowed to use the dedicated lane and inspection booth at the southbound PHC which enables them to bypass the typically much longer queues in the general purpose (GP) lane. The objective of the pilot project was to determine if overall wait times could be reduced for GP trucks without a dramatic increase in the wait times for FAST-enrolled trucks. An earlier study (Springer, 2010) had found that opening the southbound FAST lane and booth to GP traffic would reduce the average waiting time across all trucks, although waiting times for the FAST trucks mixed in with the GP traffic would increase. The results of this experiment led to the pilot project as a means of testing the predictions of the simulation.

Issue

September

Subjects - Topical (LCSH)

Trucking--Washington (State)--Blaine; Border crossing--Washington (State)--Blaine

Geographic Coverage

Blaine (Wash.)

Genre/Form

technical reports

Type

Text

Language

English

Format

application/pdf

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