Federal funding to boost traffic flow at Canadian border and improve pedestrian safety

Border crossing at Blaine, B.C.
Photo by Tom Banse in the Washington State Standard

U.S. Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and Patty Murray (D-WA) chair of the Senate Committee on Appropriations announced the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and Intercity Transit will receive $8.6 million to deploy new technologies that will provide better information for travelers and streamline crossings at the Canadian border, and help identify dangerous intersections for pedestrians, cyclists, and vehicles. 

Funding comes from the Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation (SMART) grants program, which Sens. Cantwell and Murray fought to secure in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL).

WSDOT to receive $6,599,400 to improve traffic flow at Canadian Border

The current border wait time systems at the Canadian border are over 20 years old and are failing or becoming obsolete. 

In 2022, the Whatcom Council of Governments received a Stage One SMART grant to evaluate and pilot hardware to improve the system’s reliability. 

Building on the work from Stage One, WSDOT will deploy a border wait time system for passenger and commercial vehicles at four Points of Entry in Whatcom County that will provide real-time border conditions, trip planning tools, traffic management information, and predictive analytics tools for the traveling public, commercial carriers, and the transportation and inspection agencies. 

These investments should help streamline border crossings and support better traffic management during major surges in cross-border traffic, including the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Intercity Transit to receive $2,000,000 to improve pedestrian safety

Intercity Transit, a public transportation provider in Thurston County, will install smart sensors with AI analytics to identify intersections where conflicts occur between pedestrians, cyclists, and vehicles. Information collected by these sensors will help inform traffic planning decisions which will make it safer for people to walk, bike, and take transit to reach their destinations.

“2023 was the deadliest year on Washington state roads in over 30 years. We need to do more to prevent fatalities and improve transportation safety for everyone,” said Sen. Cantwell.

“This grant funding will allow Intercity Transit to install state-of-the-art AI sensors along 10 different intersections in Lacey to identify where accidents are happening and help fix dangerous roads.

The City of Seattle will also share in a $14,849,730 grant to manage curb space and reduce idling. 

In FY 2022, the City of Seattle and Minneapolis received SMART grant funding to design and pilot a data-driven curb space management system to manage demand for curb space for package deliveries and passenger pick-up and drop-offs. 

This funding will scale up the pilot program to tackle key tasks: improve data collection and AI analysis of curb management ecosystems, increase public engagement, and expand workforce and capacity building. 

This approach will provide a roadmap for the public and private sectors and other metropolitan cities to adopt and implement data-driven and policy-driven curb management systems to coordinate smart use of limited curb space, reducing idling, congestion, and unnecessary emissions when delivery drivers must search for places to park in highly dense metro areas.