The Advanced Transportation and Congestion Management Technologies Deployment Grant Supports GoPort! local freight efficiency project
On October 4, 2017, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) announced that the Global Opportunities at the Port of Oakland Project, known as GoPort!, is the recipient of a nearly $10 million Advanced Transportation and Congestion Management Technologies Deployment (ATCMTD) Grant. FHWA fully funded the request of the Alameda County Transportation Commission (Alameda CTC) to support the integration of Freight Community System and advanced ITS technology.
“This grant highlights the importance of the partnership between Alameda CTC and the Port of Oakland (Port) as together we implement intelligent transportation systems that support efficient goods movement, economic growth and technologies that help address congestion and associated air pollution,” says Arthur L. Dao, Executive Director of Alameda CTC. “The GoPort! project will help address congestion within the Port and at key access points, and will improve efficiency for our goods movement industry.”
“We’re building a new foundation for freight transport in Oakland and this grant moves us much closer to our goal,” says J. Christopher Lytle, Executive Director of the Port of Oakland. “We want to speed containers in and out of the Port and accelerate goods movement on Bay Area freeways; the Federal Highway Administration has seen the wisdom of our approach.”
GoPort! includes a number of discrete but synergistic improvements to truck and rail access at the Port of Oakland – one of the top 10 busiest container ports in the nation – that will enhance access to world markets for producers, alleviate congestion on two primary highway freight system (PHFS) intermodal connectors, improve rail safety and efficiency, and better manage truck arrivals with innovative technology. Core improvements include:
- The 7th Street Grade Separation to alleviate a major chokepoint for intercontinental rail and drayage trucks by eliminating truck-rail and truck-truck conflicts; and
- Intelligent Transportation Systems technology to cost-effectively manage truck arrivals, improve incident response and connect to regional smart corridor systems. ITS technology will include backbone communications infrastructure and systems integration and lays the technological foundation to support future developments in truck automation and connected vehicle technologies.
Alameda CTC will use the grant towards a new port-specific traffic management center, advanced traveler information, traffic messaging, trucking information for mobile apps, rail-grade warning and terminal queue information.
FHWA’s ATCMTD program, established under the FAST Act, funds cutting-edge technologies that are ready to be deployed. This year, the program funded 10 projects including GoPort!.
