El Paso Texas, August 18, 2008 -- The El Paso County’s Secure Border Trade Demonstration Project (SBTDP), as well as an agreement with the Texas Department of Transportation (TXDOT), was approved unanimously by the members of El Paso County Commissioners Court.
The $3.6 million pilot project funded through the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)’s Coordinated Border Infrastructure (CBI) Program will equip three El Paso/Juarez maquiladoras with 30 heavy-duty tractors/trailers with state-of-the-art intelligent transportation system devices.
This kind of technology will serve to secure the cargo and transmit key data into a central repository, where the data will be analyzed by software agents to detect anomalies, which may compromise the security of the protected cargo.
Bob Geyer, Director of the county’s Rural Transit Department, explained to the members of the court that the objective of the SBTDP is to increase the security and efficiency related to the movement of goods and people at the Mexican and Canadian borders with the United States.
“The cargo will be tagged with radio frequency identification labels and will be monitored during their travel. If for any reason, the truck leaves their prescribed course an alarm will sound alerting the program administrator about possible irregularities with the protected cargo,” Geyer said.
“It will also expedite the crossing process through the local ports of entry and improve the region’s air quality,” he added.
The Texas Transportation Institute (TTI)’s Center for International Intelligent Transportation Research will be responsible for developing and coordinating a technology monitoring system and a quality control plan for the project.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection field office in El Paso has agreed to participate as an advisory stakeholder group for the technology monitoring system.
The process for request of proposal will be initiated during the fall season.