2006 Commercial Vehicle Operations Border Evaluation
Status: Completed in 2006 — Research Project
IMTC participants have identified the need to periodically evaluate commercial vehicle operations (CVO) at the Cascade Gateway’s three ports-of-entry as a priority for informing regional investment strategies, and to analyze the impacts of changes to road and inspection systems.
Given the changes at Pacific Highway since 2002, IMTC participants were interested in seeing if the border wait times have improved five years after the original study and after substantial investments in infrastructure improvements. The study examined changes in queuing patterns, travel delay, and processing times at the border, and also attempted to attribute any improvements to discreet projects or initiatives at the border. The study also collected data to be used for ongoing modeling efforts and to develop a baseline for future project monitoring.
Initial results showed that the new alignment of southbound B.C. Highway 15 has improved overall travel time for FAST-approved trucks using the ITS lane. For other trucks, however, through-border travel time decreased from 2002, despite roadway improvements.
Despite the fact that the number of commercial vehicles crossing the border are down 13 percent since 2002, border crossings took more time. This is predominantly due to longer primary booth processing times, which have increased by 110 percent since 2002.
A full analysis of results is available in the final report.