Project status: Completed
The IMTC forum identified a need for a southbound advanced traveler information system (ATIS) to mirror the northbound ATIS system installed by WA State Department of Transportation, which provided comparable border delay estimates on variable message signs for travelers to pick between close crossings.
The original southbound ATIS was for passenger vehicles only at the Peace Arch and Pacific Highway ports-of-entry (the system later expanded to include Lynden and Sumas ports-of-entry).
The City of Blaine, WA and Surrey, B.C. share two ports-of-entry that are separated by only a mile. Despite the proximity of the Pacific Highway crossing, many travelers did not use its services to cross the border because they didn’t want to chance that the lines at the port-of-entry were worse than those off the main route along Interstate 5/B.C. Highway 99. In 2000, the WA State Department of Transportation installed a border ATIS system northbound that reported wait times for the Peace Arch and Pacific Highway ports-of-entry. The data were also displayed on a real-time website, and later archived at CascadeGatewayData.com. A similar system was needed in the opposite direction, which experienced equal levels of delay and uneven distribution of traffic amongst available capacity at the two ports.
In 2001, U.S. and Canadian funds were used to develop the B.C. Ministry of Transportation’s border ATIS. In subsequent years, improvements to this system have included the addition of cameras and other ports-of-entry, as well as additional modes (i.e. commercial vehicles). Data from the system are archived at CascadeGatewayData.com.
The cost of the project was $1,103,000 (USD). Funding was provided by the agencies listed below:
U.S. Federal Highway Administration
Transport Canada
B.C. Ministry of Transportation
Contact Melissa Fanucci, Principal Planner, Whatcom Council of Governments by email or phone (360-685-8385).