At the St. Clair and Detroit Rivers (Ontario/Michigan) international highway border crossings, there are manual toll collection systems at two bridges and one tunnel. In addition, customs and immigration inspections are performed at these crossings on cargos/vehicles and drivers/travellers. As the annual border crossing traffic increases to over 21 million vehicles, the sometimes excess delays at these crossings continue to exist. These delays have increased the cost of doing business for truckers, shippers, manufacturers, and retailers, and eventually cost consumers more to buy goods and services. The government transportation agencies, border crossings agencies, and toll operators on both sides of the border sides of the border jointly initiated a project to investigate the application opportunities of Automatic Vehicle Indentification (AVI)/Intelligent Vehicle-Highway Systems (IVHS) technology to expedite border crossing operations. This international project includes, as members, the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario, Michigan Department of Transportation, U.S. Customs and Immigration, Canada Customs and Immigration, bridges and tunnel operators, Transport Canada, U.S. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), trucking associations, and customs brokers association. (A)
Abstract