- US Completes Otay Port Renovation As Work On New Port And Its Toll Road Continues
- New GPS-Enabled Technology Enhances North Carolina Motorist And Highway Patrol Safety
- US Is Challenged To Provide Adequate EV Charging Capacity For Commercial Trucking
- These are just some of the toll industry developments TRN is following.
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US Completes Otay Port Renovation As Work On New Port And Its Toll Road Continues
Border Report got a tour yesterday of the newly renovated Otay Mesa Port of Entry located at the border between San Diego and Tijuana. The four-year, $134 million rehabilitation and expansion project was designed to expedite the processing of commercial truck, passenger vehicle and pedestrian crossings, and improve the delivery of other services by US border agencies. The scope of work included expansion of the compound’s footprint, construction of a new administration building and renovation of 40-year-old facilities. The article notes, “Otay Mesa processes over $13.5 billion in exports and $37.4 billion in imports every year while inspecting nearly 1 million commercial trucks.”
The San Diego Union-Tribune also reports on the renovation of the third-busiest commercial port of entry along the southern border. It notes,”The project didn’t include additional lanes to the regular vehicle border crossing. Officials have noted that there’s not much space left for construction. There’s also an ongoing project to build a second Otay Mesa border crossing for both vehicles and commercial crossings.” That $1.2 billion project, dubbed “Otay II,” involves the collaboration of US and Mexico federal governments, Caltrans and the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG). SANDAG’s role includes design and construction of a four-lane toll road (SR 11) connection to the new port of entry and its commercial vehicle processing facility.
Baja California California Caltrans (CA Department of Transportation) Mexico Otay Mesa East Port of Entry Project San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) San Diego-Tijuana Metro AreaNew GPS-Enabled Technology Enhances North Carolina Motorist And Highway Patrol Safety
WCNC reports on the North Carolina State Highway Patrol’s implementation of a new statewide computer-aided dispatch system with improved GPS capability. It has enhanced both motorist and police officer safety and has life-saving potential. The upgraded system automatically pinpoints the location of roadside 911 callers for dispatchers and field units, thus improving service response times. Since patrol vehicle on-board units display the highly accurate location data, the system also aids communication between a call center and a responding officer. Officer safety is enhanced because patrol vehicles are automatically tracked, which means requests for backup can be answered faster and the location of an unresponsive officer can be determined. A highway patrol spokesman commented that the new technology “just increased our bandwidth, it increased our capabilities and increased the types of services that we can provide to the community.”
The new system was in planning before the pandemic, but an influx of federal government American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds accelerated implementation, which will be fully completed in early 2025. Additional information about the $11.1 million Motorola dispatch system, its IT and radio components, capabilities and funding is the topic of a blog post and video from the North Carolina Pandemic Recovery Office.
Highway-Tunnel-Bridge Safety (Includes COVID-19 Impacts) Information Technology Resources and Acquisitions North Carolina US Infrastructure Funding And Financing InitiativesUS Is Challenged To Provide Adequate EV Charging Capacity For Commercial Trucking
“While federal officials were touting the latest round of electric charging infrastructure grants for cars in rural and other communities nationwide, there also was modest good news for trucking,” Transport Topics reports. Of the total $622 million in EV charging grants, about one-third went to truck charging stations, including $76 million to WattEV for stations located on I-5 in California. The article includes quotes from WattEV CEO Salim Youssefzadeh on the company’s vision of extending a charging corridor all the way up to Washington State. Also featured are perspectives from industry experts who characterize the FHWA funding as a good start, but only the beginning of what’s needed to bring the trucking industry up to the electric charging standards the nation expects. Jacqueline Gelb of the American Trucking Associations said her organization remains concerned that building out a functional truck charging network is not a higher priority. David Heller of the Truckload Carriers Association stresses the need for charging infrastructure nationwide, not just along West Coast corridors. Heller also points to “the question mark surrounding the power grid.” That concern reportedly is undergirded by a new Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) report, which the article says “seemed to splash water on the notion that electric utilities will be able, or willing, to quickly or affordably provide the power to build out a large-truck electric charging infrastructure.”
TRN notes, the EDF report also offers ten recommendations for “key actions regulators and state legislators can take to allow both public and investor-owned utilities to get ahead of electricity demand growth, making it easier, faster and more affordable for fleets to electrify.”
Electric and Hybrid Vehicles Infrastructure Investment Trends Service Plazas US Gov't Transportation Funding US Infrastructure Funding And Financing InitiativesThese are just some of the toll industry developments TRN is following.
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