International Bridges Metropia Bridges App - Metropia Bridges App Project Update
Overview of Wait Times Customs Border Protection (CBP) Line of sight Reliable? As long as it s consistently wrong, that s ok! Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) Radio Frequency Identification Technology (RFID) for cargo Not in all bridges & end of queue sometimes beyond reader locations Bluetooth (BT) for vehicles Limited to smart phones w/ BT turned on Freight carriers Global Positioning System (GPS) Best captures complete & segmented crossing times City of El Paso Intl. Bridges Dept. (IBD) Collaborating w/ Metropia for GPS-based wait times 2
Overview of Wait Times According to the GAO (203), CBP wait times are unreliable for public reporting Approved methodologies are inconsistently implemented Driver survey method unreliable Limited usefulness for CBP management decisions on staffing & infrastructure investments Need for replacing current manual wait time estimates with automated methods to improve data validity 3
Metropia Bridges App Screenshots Enter from/to locations & app shows best times to leave & route Avoid traffic/congestion & help reduce CO2 emissions Real-time flow data & predictive algorithms forecast traffic patterns in 5-minute intervals Earn & redeem points w/ Amazon, Starbucks, restaurants, etc. 4
Metropia Bridges App Northbound and Southbound Bridge Crossing Segments Bridge crossing segments (geofences) identified for all crossing types (POV, PED, and Cargo) both northbound and southbound traffic at all POEs Focus group meetings held with Bridges Steering Committee Paso Del Norte & Stanton POEs Bridge of the Americas POE Ysleta/Zaragoza POE Tornillo-Guadalupe POE Santa Teresa POE 5
Metropia Mobile App Border Applications - Wait Times Using GPS Ysleta/Zaragoza POE Northbound Commercial Traffic Mexican Aduanas Queue Private K-9 Inspection Mexican Aduanas Inspection Gobierno del Estado CBP Primary Inspection CBP Secondary Inspection TX-DPS/US-DOT POE Exit Image Source: Google Earth 206 6
Metropia Bridges App Northbound and Southbound Bridge Crossing Segments Six POEs 89 Segments Santa Teresa (5 modes, 25 segments) Paso Del Norte (3 modes, 6 segments) Stanton (3 modes, 8 segments) BOTA (7 modes, 37 segments) Ysleta-Zaragoza (7 modes, 49 segments) Tornillo-Guadalupe (6 modes, 44 segments) 7
Metropia Bridges App POE Traffic Model and Wait Time Data Completed the integration of the regional POE system and Ciudad Juarez street network with El Paso traffic model Work underway to develop APIs required for automatic data downloads and Metropia dashboards 8
Metropia Mobile App Border Benefits - Wait Times Using GPS Wait time data collection and measurement in regional POEs All crossing types passenger vehicles, pedestrians and commercial traffic (both directions) Real-time bridge crossing wait time information dissemination Crowdsourced real-time conditions at the ports Major events and bridge disruptions (temporary closures, protests, other incidents, etc.) Accidents and stalled vehicles Improved cross-border traffic management and congestion reduction Reduced traffic and congestion in neighborhoods adjacent to the bridges by redirecting traffic to the less congested ports Provide critical information needed in the planning and design of future bridge improvement projects Bridge user survey collection tool Crossing experience, trip information, travel and spending patterns, etc. 9
Kilobytes Metropia Bridges App Outreach Efforts Monthly Bridges Steering Committee meetings Focus group and outreach meeting in Juarez Index 2/2/7 Consejo Regional del Auto Transporte de Carga (CRACAR) 2/24/7 5,500 marketing cards printed and distributed Contacted several companies in El Paso and Juarez (Omega, Sotelo, Tracso, Transervicios, Erives Enterprises, Mesilla Valley, Trans- Expedite, MVT, Tecma, Acme Mills),000 900 800 700 600 500 400 300 200 00 - Data Consumed (kb) 879 563 359 229 46 90 39 6 5 30 45 60 75 90 05 20 Wait Time (Minutes) E-Mail: 20kB Song: 4,000kB photo upload: 5,000kB 0
Metropia Bridges App Alpha and Beta Testing Phases Alpha testing phase Start: /5/7 End: 2/06/7 Five alpha testers, 6 trips Alpha Testing - Trip/User Count Beta testing phase Start: 2/07/7 End: 3/30/7 84 beta testers, 843 trips Beta Testing - Trip/User Count Santa Teresa (SB) Santa Teresa (SB) Santa Teresa (NB) 2 Santa Teresa (NB) Tornillo (SB) Tornillo (SB) Tornillo (NB) Tornillo (NB) Paso Del Norte (NB) 2 4 Paso Del Norte (NB) 49 Zaragoza (SB) 2 Zaragoza (SB) 22 84 Zaragoza (NB) 2 3 Zaragoza (NB) 25 03 Santa Fe (SB) 2 2 Santa Fe (SB) 7 94 Stanton DCL (NB) 0 Stanton DCL (NB) 8 24 BOTA (SB) 4 5 BOTA (SB) 65 203 BOTA (NB) 3 0 BOTA (NB) 49 82 0 5 0 5 20 Total Testers Total Trips Total Testers 0 50 00 50 200 250 Total Trips
Metropia Bridges App App Launch Soft Launch Friday, March 3 st, 207 3,000+ new accounts created thus far Download cards distributed at: City-owned POEs Fideicomiso de Puentes Fronterizos (NB toll booths) Consulado General de México El Paso Community Foundation Texas 6 th Congressional District Borderplex Municipio de Juárez Servicio de Administración Tributaria Southwest Maquiladora Association Index Juárez Border Industrial Association Data collection efforts underway Formal launch event May 3 st, 207 2
Metropia Bridges App Screenshots 3
Bridges Website May 3 st launch Static content Crossings, links, resources, reports, projects Real-time content Alerts, wait times, conditions, lanes open Metropia dashboards Responsive design optimized for any screen size SMS text messaging to push emergency info. Social media integration Bilingual content managed by members of Steering Committee 4
International Bridges Metropia Bridges App - Metropia Bridges App Project Update 5