Skip to main content

California ports testing congestion-reduction software

The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are testing efficiency software for the next six months to streamline traffic and improve air quality. The Freight Advanced Traveller Information Program is expected to reduce traffic congestion during peak hours by improving the information flow between truck fleets and port terminals, according to the ports. “By using Bluetooth proximity readers in and around the marine terminal in conjunction with dynamic routing, the system can communicate where congestion i
December 12, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are testing efficiency software for the next six months to streamline traffic and improve air quality.

The Freight Advanced Traveller Information Program is expected to reduce traffic congestion during peak hours by improving the information flow between truck fleets and port terminals, according to the ports.

“By using Bluetooth proximity readers in and around the marine terminal in conjunction with dynamic routing, the system can communicate where congestion is to truckers and dispatchers. Using this information allows us to plan terminal visits in a way that can assist all parties in moving containers more efficiently,” Harbor Trucking Association president Michael Johnson said in a statement.

The real-time information will allow drivers and schedulers to reroute and reschedule according to current roadway conditions in the port and on freeways.

The project is public/private collaboration funded by the 324 US Department of Transportation (DOT) 321 Research and Innovative Technology Administration and partners including Harbor Trucking Association, Port Logistics Group, Yusen Terminals and 5673 Cambridge Systematics.

“If the demonstration is deemed successful by the stakeholders and implemented here on a larger scale, we can expect to see reduced congestion in peak hours and at key choke points. That translates directly into improvements in mobility and air quality for the region,” Cambridge Systematics Principal Mark Jensen said in a statement.

The test began on 11 December, and once completed, DOT will publish the results of an independent assessment.

Related Content

  • Public Private Partnerships to gather pace in the US
    April 29, 2015
    Public Private Partnerships are set to play a big role in transportation funding as Andrew Bardin Williams discovers. The old joke goes that the road from New York to Chicago is paved with potholes. For decades, drivers from New York and New Jersey traveling across Pennsylvania to visit the Midwest have lambasted the Commonwealth’s roadways for their lack of smooth pavement.
  • Super Bowl 2014 to benefit from adaptive traffic control
    January 22, 2014
    To address the traffic needs of one of the busiest traffic corridors in the US, TransCore and the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission are on schedule to complete another phase of an adaptive traffic control system - just in time for Super Bowl 2014. To improve traffic flow and reduce congestion, TransCore began engineering and installing an adaptive traffic control system at more than 100 intersections throughout the 30-square miles of the Hackensack Meadowlands District.
  • Hard shoulder running aids uniform traffic flow and safer driving
    January 23, 2012
    David Crawford detects a market for European experience. Well-established now in at least three European countries, Hard Shoulder Running (HSR) on motorways is exciting growing interest in the US. A November 2010 Report to Congress by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), on the Efficient Use of Highway Capacity, notes the role of HSR in the European-style Active Traffic Management (ATM) strategies now being recommended for implementation in the US where, until recently, they were virtually unknown.
  • Iteris wins traffic light synchronisation project along major California corridor
    April 19, 2012
    Iteris has been selected by the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) to synchronise 68 traffic lights along Katella Avenue in Orange County, California, as part of the Proposition 1B - Traffic Light Synchronization Program (TLSP). The contract, valued at $674,000, is expected to begin immediately.