Applying
Intelligent Transportation Systems
to Cross Border Issues
TC / FHWA Regional Roundtable
Michele Mueller
Mike Barnet
Senior Project Manager
Senior Project Engineer
Outline
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Background
Goals for an Intelligent Border Crossing
Work Underway in Port Huron / Sarnia for a Border Advisory System
Plans for Alternate Crossings
Related Work
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Ontario
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Population >13 million
Ontario’s international trade is greater than $436 billion
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Motor vehicle parts represent the largest commodity group
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27% of Ontario’s total merchandise trade
Ontario’s US trade represents 65% of our international trade
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49% of Canada’s overall international trade
Destination for 78% of Ontario exports
Source of 56% of Ontario imports
Ontario’s top US export destinations:
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Michigan ($38.9 billion)
California ($15.1 billion)
New York ($13.1 billion)
Ohio ($7.5 billion)
Texas ($6.9 billion)
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Michigan
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4 International Crossings
Increased Demand at Crossings
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Passenger and Freight
Trade Statistics:
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Month Snapshot
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Total US/Canada trade; $57.37 billion (up 8% compared to Sept 13)
Michigan largest state trading with Canada Sept 2014 ; $6.6 billion
Year to Date (As of Sept 2014)
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US/Canada Trade through Michigan - $169.65 billion (up 8.14% from last
year)
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Michigan's border crossings handled 34.2% of all US/Canada
trade in September
Michigan/Canada trade through Michigan border crossings - $48.4 billion
(up 9.9% from last year)
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Intelligent Border Crossing GOALS
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Reduce travel delay by taking action to maximize the efficiency of the
transportation network
Enhance safety by taking action to provide timely, useful information
regarding roadway conditions well in advance of necessary action
Reduce the costs associated with cross-border travel by taking action to
reduce systemic inefficiencies in the transportation system, and to
promote inter-agency information-sharing and coordination
Reduce the negative impacts on border communities by taking action
to reduce idling and congestion
Provide support to other government agencies by facilitating the
exchange of information regarding cross-border transport
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Project Planning / Design
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Concept of Operations
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Automatically measure Border Wait Time on a real-time basis
Provide border wait-time information to motorists en route via:
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Coordination with FHWA
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Multi state systems
Coordination amongst all stakeholders
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Roadside signs
Traveler Information Website
Partnership, MOU
Infrastructure
Stakeholder Involvement
Technology Investigation
Software
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Hybrid Approach
(Bluetooth and Vehicle Detectors)
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Use of Bluetooth Readers & Vehicle Detectors
Vehicle Detectors
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Vehicle detectors
installed at border
crossing in BC, Canada
Service flow rate
Volume of cars in the queue
Bluetooth Detector
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Historical travel time information
Bluetooth reader
installed off highway
shoulder, Ontario
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Hybrid Approach
Cars Exiting
Primary Inspection Lanes
Vehicle Detectors ‘A’
Vehicle Detectors ‘B’
Cars Entering
Closed System
(NOTE: Could be a tunnel or bridge approach)
Direction of Travel
Bluetooth Reader ‘B’
• Bluetooth and Vehicle Detectors co-located (in
principle)
• Vehicle Detectors A gives real-time service flow rate
• Vehicle Detectors B gives number of cars in the
queue
• Bluetooth reader provides historical travel times
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Blue Water Bridge Crossing
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Data Review
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Data Analysis
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Current Status
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With much calibration effort and support from our project partners
including Parsons, the Bluetooth vendor (TPA-NA) and MDOT, we
have achieved very accurate border wait time measurements using
the travel time method alone
Waiting to confirm with instances where wait time exceeds 1 hr.
After similar calibration effort and support from MDOT, we are not
able to achieve a comparable level of accuracy with the closed
system method as we were with the travel time method. This is due
to a typical daily error of about 3% between measured arrivals and
measured departures; and occasional lost volumes due to wireless
transmission
Still have an issue with 1 Bluetooth modem that is intermittently
dropping connectivity
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Information Dissemination
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Michigan: Will be posting information on Dynamic Message Signs,
MiDrive, and a phone application
Ontario: Plan is to provide information through Web, Road Side
Signs, and potentially 511.
We also plan to make the information available to those who can
use and distribute including CBSA and CBP
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Lessons Learned
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Large, multi-jurisdictional team
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Design of Hybrid Approach requires equipment on both sides of
crossing – both loops and bluetooth
Development of signing / messaging strategy
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MTO, MDOT
Blue Water Bridge CAN / USA
City of Windsor
2 Consulting teams
Size of sign
Roadside Vs. Overhead
Bilingual Requirements
Privacy Concerns raised by media
Uncertainty related to construction of DRIC
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Other Related Work
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GLRTOC
ENTERPRISE Pooled Fund
MTO-MDOT Incident Management System
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Thank You
Michele Mueller
Sr. Project Manager
Michigan Department of
Transportation
Phone: (248)431-1443
Email:
muellerm2@michigan.gov
Intelligent Transportation Systems Program
Mike Barnet
Sr. Project Engineer
Ministry of Transportation
Phone: (416)235-5110
Email:
mike.barnet@ontario.ca
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