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In November 1998, the Subcommittee on Transportation Research and Development (R&D) of the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) released the first Federal Transportation Technology Plan. This plan presents initial implementation strategies for the private-public partnerships identified in the 1997 NSTC Transportation Science and Technology Strategy. ¹ Among these partnerships, the initiative for "Enhanced Goods and Freight Movement at Domestic and International Gateways" addresses the need for more flexible, efficient, and seamless freight transportation systems. The partnership has three overall objectives: (1) improve freight mobility at land borders and ports; (2) ensure the diffusion of freight information technologies and networks; and (3) expedite the global flow of goods.

The gateways partnership promotes an integrated freight R&D and investment policy and private-public collaboration on large-scale investment projects. This strategic plan outlines the partnership’s outcome goals, investment strategies, and anticipated impacts for border gateways. Together with a companion document for ports and intermodal terminals, this plan provides a framework for a comprehensive R&D investment strategy for freight transportation.

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OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES

The opportunities afforded by the increase in international trade are significant. A growing volume of world trade has contributed to rising incomes, emergence of new markets, and a more efficient global supply chain. Innovative freight technologies offer an important opportunity to foster continuing growth.

The US economy has gained significantly from the surge in global trade. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has grown as productivity rates in the high-technology segments of the US exports industries have climbed. Declining transportation costs have stimulated global outsourcing, further contributing to declining logistics costs and the integration of the global supply chain. US trade volume, currently exceeding $1.4 trillion per year, is expected to quadruple over the next quarter century. US export trade to Canada and Mexico alone has grown by roughly 12 percent per year since the NAFTA was ratified; trade with Mexico has more than tripled between 1987 and 1995.

The challenges posed by the growth of world trade are also significant. Traffic congestion at the NAFTA land-borders, facility access problems, and information bottlenecks pose threats to US border security, Federal vehicle safety standards, and the efficient flow of commercial goods.

Growth in the volume of international trade raises many challenges for the nation’s transportation system, including four particularly relevant to border gateways:

• Network Congestion
• Border Facility Bottlenecks
• Piecemeal Infrastructure Investment Planning
• Information Bottlenecks

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OUTCOME GOALS

In addressing these challenges, this plan supports national transportation strategic goals for mobility and for economic growth and trade, as set forth in DOT’s 1997-2002 Strategic Plan:

Mobility: Shape America’s future by ensuring a transportation system that is accessible, integrated and efficient, and offers flexibility of choices.

Economic Growth and Trade: Advance America’s economic growth and competitiveness domestically and internationally through efficient and flexible transportation.

This plan defines four key outcome goals for border gateways (three for mobility, one for economic growth and trade). Each is relevant to the one of the challenges described above, and support that support this broad national objective. For each outcome goal, the plan presents (1) an investment strategy; (2) anticipated impacts; (3) critical technology (or other) elements; and (4) case studies. The four outcome goals and associated strategies and impacts are described below.

Mobility Outcome Goals

Outcome Goal 1: Improved facility capacity to reduce congestion at border corridors through application of advanced traffic control systems.

• Investment Strategy - Augment the effectiveness of the on-going highway facility improvements along the border corridors with advanced technologies that enhance capacity and level of service, including technologies for traffic surveillance and monitoring, incident response, electronic toll collection, and commercial driver identification.

• Impact - Greater vehicle throughput and speed, leading to increased highway capacity, and shorter truck queues. Incidental benefits include reduced truck emissions, fuel use, and traffic-related incidents.

Outcome Goal 2: Improved intermodal access at the border facilities through deployment of automated cargo inspection and clearance systems.

• Investment Strategy - Partner with border regulatory agencies and intermodal freight carriers to remove intermodal access bottlenecks at border facilities through deployment of automated vehicle processing technologies and collaborative infrastructure investment.

• Impact - Improved truck cycle times; shorter truck queues; less need for multiple container handling and storage; reduced pavement damage from overweight trailers; more efficient vehicle safety inspection. Incidental benefits include reduced truck emissions, fuel use, and access-related commercial vehicle incidents.

Outcome Goal 3: Improved intermodal connectivity through promotion of an integrated, corridor-level infrastructure investment and planning process.

• Investment Strategy -Promote a "total corridor" planning approach that encompasses entire bi-national corridor traffic flows and bolsters an optimal modal balance. Work with the NAFTA partners to arrive at collaborative and innovative approaches to offsite customs inspections and corridor-level infrastructure investment. Promote the application of innovative investment planning tools, multi-modal network capacity models, and prototype technologies to facilitate offsite customs inspection, compliance verification, and vehicle tracking.

• Impact – Fewer interruptions in the flow of cross-border traffic, improved border facility capacity, and shorter implementation cycles for investment plans.

Economic Growth and Trade

Outcome Goal 4: An enhanced US international competitive position based on facilitation of the transaction processes at the US land borders.

• Investment Strategy – Reduce inspection-related border delays and information bottlenecks by promoting electronic commerce, automated cargo clearance, and a uniform bill of lading by working jointly with the NAFTA and other international trading partners.

• Impact – Pre-file arrangements and automated border clearance help avoid redundant inspection lines at border crossings, and subsequently reduce inspection-related delays and greater facility throughput.

IMPLEMENTATION

For implementation, the partnership relies on a number of strategies for development, deployment, transfer of innovative technologies, and other management solutions and institutional process changes. In the technology development arena, opportunities exist for the enhancement of the existing border systems by adding capabilities such as voice transmission, biometric identification, and GPS/DGPS to the existing radio frequency-based border clearance systems. In the technology deployment arena, the partnership is best positioned to identify the downstream end-user application areas and investigate the potential benefits to the highly fragmented freight logistics industry. In the area of technology delivery and outreach, the partnership has the opportunity to foster greater interagency and international collaboration by championing efforts to coordinate training, research, and information sharing. Included among these efforts would be the development of a national clearinghouse for collecting, analyzing, and disseminating information on freight technologies and best practices, and identifying the areas where Federal leadership for establishing technology standards and protocols is needed.

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