International land ports of entry are unique transportation bottlenecks in the North American transportation system and present interesting statistical analysis problems. At the Pacific Highway port-of-entry, located between Surrey, British Columbia and Blaine, Washington, commercial vehicles have experienced crossing times of two hours or more. To address this, the crossing has a dedicated lane for users that comply with certain security procedures under the Free And Secure Trade program. Crossers using this program experience significantly shorter wait times. These issues present the need to understand border operations, crossing times, and arrival volume patterns in greater detail to mitigate congestion and effectively utilize existing infrastructure. This thesis will address temporal patterns of commercial vehicle crossing times and arrival volume patterns by season, month, day of the week, and hour; introduce primary and non-primary crossing time concepts; analyze drivers’ lane choice; and complex statistical sampling techniques. Thus, this thesis will provide insight as to how to better manage border congestion, and introduce statistical techniques that can be used to support future research.
Leung, L. (2009). Statistical Analysis of Commercial Vehicle Border Crossing Times and Volumes: Case Study of the Pacific Highway Port-of-Entry Case Lane. University of Washington Master's Thesis.