2009 Commercial Vehicle Operations Border Evaluation

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.

The Whatcom Council of Governments partnered with the Border Policy Research Institute (BPRI) at Western Washington University, and the University of Washington to conduct a 2009 evaluation of commercial vehicle movement through the Pacific Highway, Lynden/Aldergrove, and Sumas/Huntingdon ports-of-entry. The analysis included measurement of border processing rates, northbound and southbound at all three crossings, as well as the collection of origin-destination and commodity data. Data were collected July, 2009 by a team of Western Washington University students. The final report is available here.

The project also included an internet survey sent to dispatchers of carrier companies operating at the Pacific Highway port-of-entry. The results from this analysis were compiled by the University of Washington and are available in their final report.

A BPRI Border Policy Brief reviewed data gathered during this survey effort as part of its analysis, “Issues of Efficacy of FAST at the Cascade Gateway.”

As part of the project, surveyors also collected information about bus arrivals and bus/charter passengers crossing at the Pacific Highway port-of-entry. This database is also available upon request.

Surveyors also completed a border signage inventory, which catalogued all border-related signage on the routes approaching and at the four Cascade Gateway ports-of-entry. To view the signage inventory online, click here.