Border Wait-Time Archive
Project website: CascadeGatewayData.com
The Advanced Traveler Information System (ATIS) Data Management System (DMS) archives cross-border traffic data collected from U.S. and Canadian in-road detector systems located at the Peace Arch and Pacific Highway ports-of-entry between Whatcom County, Washington State and British Columbia. The goal of the project was to provide an online query tool and reports to the public regarding historic wait times at the border, traffic volumes, queue lengths, and other information which previously was not stored.
This project was a joint Canadian - U.S. effort. Funding partners included:
- Transport Canada ($110,000 CAD)
- British Columbia Ministry of Transportation ($55,000 CAD)
- WA State Department of Transportation ($40,000 USD)
The project was managed by the Whatcom Council of Governments (WCOG).
In 2004 The International Mobility and Trade Corridor Project (IMTC) agreed to endorse a binational project to create an archive of the data being collected by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and the British Columbia Ministry of Transportation (BC MoT) to calculate and deliver of dynamic border wait-time reports to drivers via variable message signs (VMS).
That same year, funding was assembled from Transport Canada, BC MoT, and WSDOT to create and operate the ATIS-Data Management System (DMS) archive.
Work on the project commenced in June of 2006. The project was managed by the Whatcom Council of Governments (WCOG), the lead agency of IMTC.
Project milestones included:
- Development of a schema-based standard for organizing the traffic data coming from the Washington and British Columbia systems.
- A GPS inventory of both the state’s and province’s ATIS system vehicle-detector locations and subsequent development of a cross-system translation table.
- Development of a database with capabilities including automated FTP uploads and interface with an end-user website.
- Development of an archive and data query website CascadeGatewayData.com
- Automation of criteria-based e-mail alerts for U.S. and Canadian federal border inspection agencies.
- Parallel development with the U.S.-Canada Border Information Flow Architecture (BIFA).
- Significant progress towards binational arrangements for ATIS system maintenance.
Continued expansion of cross-border ATIS in the Cascade Gateway region is a high priority for the IMTC. Intended next-steps include instrumentation of other border-crossings in the region (Pacific Highway northbound, Lynden-Aldergrove, and Huntingdon-Sumas). Additionally, the provision of advanced information to commercial vehicle drivers is an IMTC priority. As these initiatives advance, the Data Management System (DMS) is set up to expand, archive these very rich data sources, and make them available to system managers and users.
For more information, contact Hugh Conroy at (360) 676-6974.