ITS: U.S. DOT announces grant for ITS technologies at New York State border crossings

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s (U.S. DOT) Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has announced a $7.8 million grant to implement a variety of ITS technologies to provide real-time information to travelers and reduce delay at the U.S./Canada border.

Multiple agencies have received the funding to implement a regional mobility management system in order to increase safety and to optimize regional transportation efficiency in western New York, particularly at the U.S./Canada border crossing. The agencies have received the grant under FHWA’s Advanced Transportation and Congestion Management Technologies Deployment (ATCMTD) program, which was established under the FAST Act, a long-term transportation infrastructure bill passed in December 2015 that addresses concerns outlined in U.S. DOT’s Beyond Traffic report.

The new system will improve border crossing performance, reducing travel time for residents and visitors and enhancing the safety of commercial vehicle operations. It will link to NFTA systems to expand the existing smart mobility regional system.

The project will include coordination of real-time and forecasted multimodal, multi-agency transportation network information via 511NY and other applications; upgrading the regional advanced traffic management system (ATMS); integration of road weather information system (RWIS) units currently in place to provide information for motorists at the border; implementation of a robust in-vehicle weather forecast and alert system to warn truckers and motorists of inclement weather and delays; improvements to coordination among first-responders by integrating additional 911 computer-aided dispatch (CAD) systems, and expanding the regional information exchange network.