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To better measure traffic flow, the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) and private R&D organization Battelle have installed an RFID read-write system on the bridge connecting the U.S. border with Mexico to monitor northbound travel. of commercial vehicles that have government-issued passive UHF tags affixed to their windshields.
Cargo trucks go through dozens of entry points (POES) on their way to cross the border from Mexico to the United States, and traffic jams are often imagined as vehicles have to pass inspections on both sides to enter the country. Previously, U.S. Customs and Excise Service (CPB) typically measured the level of congestion by counting how long drivers waited and visually inspecting the number of vehicles lined up, and posted the congestion information on the Customs website to share with other government agencies. However, compared to automated solutions, manually derived data is inaccurate.
In 2007, the Texas Transportation Institute and private research institute Battelle joined forces to apply RFID technology to the monitoring of northbound traffic on the Bridge of the Americas (BOTA) in Texas. Trucks traveling on the bridge have to pass through 3 checkpoints, and the RFID readers in the checkpoints obtain the location information of the passing vehicles. The solution, originally developed under a research project funded by the Federal Transit Highway Administration (FHWA), includes data software developed by TTI to process data captured by TransCore’s RFID readers, Source RFID tags were originally used for toll processing or cargo inventory. The original solution did not include tracking of detailed information such as truck model, driver and cargo, but simply stored ID and time records through the reader.
In addition, the Texas Transportation Institute has deployed the system at four other corridors in Texas, which are funded by the Texas Department of Transportation (DOT). Also funded by the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT), such solutions will also be installed in the state.
About 47,000 trucks cross the border from the U.S. to Mexico each year through dozens of entry lanes. 25,000 trucks cross the Bridge of the Americas to El Paso every month. It is easy to be crowded with traffic here, resulting in a queue of more than 1,600 meters in traffic jams. To improve the accuracy and reduce delays of information used to manage cross-border traffic, FHWA took the lead in 2006 by bidding for an automated solution to address the above issues. A year later, the system was deployed.
After the RFID system is installed, instead of simply estimating or visualizing the number of traffic jams, the system automatically tracks the time when the truck is away from the entry channel and the date and time when it passes through some special locations. Based on the collected data, the traffic management agency proposes traffic optimization solutions and adjusts the number of entry channels in a timely manner. Freight companies can also share this data to avoid entry in heavy traffic.
About 50-80% of trucks passing through the border are RFID-tagged. The purpose and origin of the labels vary, for example, as part of the Free and Safe Trade (FAST) program, cargo carriers attach passive ultra-high frequency (UHF) labels to the windshields of trucks, which are TransCore’s The eGo model, offered by CBP, complies with multiple air interface protocols, including the American Trucking Association (ATA) protocol. The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) uses passive tags of the same type for safety inspections in factories.
On the basis of the existing tags, TTI and Battelle developed a traffic tracking system in 2007 to measure and store data such as the time of transit vehicles.
To avoid the hassle of changing tags, TransCore’s Encompass 4 UHF RFID readers were selected to be installed in two locations. The first was installed 1.5 miles from the Mexican border; the second was in Texas after a second inspection (the first by CBP for overloading; the second, by DPS for road safety compliance) somewhere.
Each reader has three antennas in three different lanes. During the process of passing the lane, the tag on the windshield of the vehicle is read, associated with data such as time records and location, and forwarded to the background server. The encoding of the tags is anonymous and does not identify the truck driver and company based on the ID number. When passing through the second reader, the length of time to pass through the two readers is mainly tracked. The average transit time is calculated to be 15 minutes. The data throughout the process is passed to the server via a GPRS cellular connection.
The system was put into operation in July 2009. In August 2010, additional funding from the Federal Highway Administration and CBP was used to add RFID read and write devices to obtain more detailed data on truck wait times and more.
About 600-1000 tags are read every day. Under normal circumstances, the vehicle can be read when it passes through the three positions. If the vehicle speed is too fast, the phenomenon of missing reading will occur.
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