Development of Statistical Models to Forecast Crossing Times of Commercial Vehicles (UTCM 10-09-60)

Border crossing time measurement systems for commercial vehicles are being implemented throughout the U.S.-Mexico border. These systems are based on radio frequency identification (RFID) technology. With funding from the Federal Highway Administration, the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI)/Battelle team installed an RFID-based system at the Bridge of the Americas (BOTA) in El Paso, Texas, to measure and archive crossing times of commercial vehicles. The RFID system at BOTA is already operational, and current truck crossing time information is relayed and archived in a centralized repository. In addition, with funding from the Texas Department of Transportation, TTI deployed RFID systems on the Pharr-Reynosa Bridge. These systems measure the current crossing time and provide the information to users; however, there is no system in place to predict the crossing times of trucks. In fact, there are no systems in place at the U.S.-Mexico border to predict traffic conditions including crossing times of trucks. In this project, statistical models were developed to predict crossing times of trucks over a short range of time. The statistical prediction models use historic data and take into account empirical relationships between border-crossing-related parameters and truck crossing times.