by Rafael Aldrete and Swapnil Samant
Transportation agencies are charged with the formidable task of keeping people and goods moving efficiently, reliably and safely. Sometimes, that’s not easy. When bad weather hits, for example, a transportation management agency’s limited resources and personnel are stretched thin by mass movements of cars and trucks stressing the local network.
If you’ve ever visited the Texas-Mexico border during peak crossing times, you know a lot of time is spent waiting to cross. And, as the old saying goes, time is money. That’s particularly true for shippers moving goods and manufacturing materials from point A in Mexico to point B in the United States. [Read more…] about A New, Web-Based Platform to Alleviate Cross-Border Traffic Congestion
In the transportation research business, we use the term “performance measurement” when we measure how a certain aspect of our transportation system is operating. For example, through crash reporting we can tell you with certainty how safe a road is operating, or, through commute times, how well traffic is flowing. Safety and mobility of a roadway are fairly easy to determine. [Read more…] about Taking Border Performance to the Next Level
By 2030, the Office of the State Demographer predicts Texas will support a population of 33.9 million. That’s up from 25.2 million in 2010—about a 35 percent increase. That means that, for every three people we have in the state today, we’ll have four tomorrow. And they’ll all be trying to use the same transportation system.
[Read more…] about Thinking Outside the Box? How about a New Way to Measure the Box
by Alex Valdez
For years, “adding capacity” to meet the growing demands of commuters on urban roadways equated to “adding lanes.” But now, construction costs and the expenses associated with securing right-of-way to build more lanes have exceeded our ability to pay for them. “Doing more with what we have” is the goal of most traffic management agencies these days. [Read more…] about Saving Space by Sharing Space
Travelers at the U.S.-Mexico border are experiencing longer and longer wait times. While NAFTA has proven economically advantageous for both countries—partly by encouraging tourism and trade in border towns—one negative consequence of increased economic activity has been longer lines at land ports of entry (LPOEs). The demand to cross from one country to the other usually exceeds a port’s capacity to efficiently process that traffic. This is particularly true in highly populated, bi-national regions such as El Paso-Ciudad Juarez. [Read more…] about Reducing the Domino Effect at LPOEs
