Beyond ‘Splinteroperability’: U.S., Mexico Find Pathways to Border Interoperability

As recently as 2013, at least two of the consultants working to untangle the snarl of goods and people across the Mexico-United States border were referring to the overall scene as “splinteroperability”.

Just three years later, solid efforts are under way to clear the gridlock and build a truly interoperable connection between jurisdictions that share an immense volume of international commerce. The results of that hard work will be one of the success-stories-in-the-making that participants get to hear about during IBTTA’s 2016 Summit of the Americas, October 16-18, 2016 in Mexico City.

“It’s an old saying, but it’s worth repeating: You don’t take on tough challenges because they’re easy,” says IBTTA Executive Director and CEO Pat Jones. “Our members on both sides of the border have been at the forefront of the effort to facilitate goods movement between the United States and Mexico. We’re proud to recognize and reinforce their hard work by hosting a major event in Mexico for the first time ever.”

‘Splinteroperability: The Way It Was

In April 2013, ITS International reported on the state of highway interoperability between the two countries.

“Despite their distinct transport policies and business cultures, Mexico and the U.S. have experienced a remarkably similar pace and stakeholder dynamic as they independently crawl toward ETC [Electronic Toll Collection] interoperability,” the publication noted. “The parallel efforts of the two countries to stitch together splintered interests offer lessons learned and opportunities for innovation.”

At the time, the United States was at a much earlier stage in its push for nationwide interoperability. ITS International found that Mexico was in a strikingly similar position.

“All toll roads in Mexico, although owned by the federal government, are operated under concession agreements with many (over 40) distinct operators, each with the right to pursue its own ETC policies and systems,” ITS noted. “As in the U.S., the principal cause of the absence of interoperability is not technology. Rather, there is no mutual will or consensus among toll road operators, concessionaires, ETC providers, and authorities, on the business rules, and various financial and technological models of interoperability.”

The Costs of Border Congestion

While the two countries make their way through the monumental task of harmonizing their own systems, agencies like the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) have been working hard to quantify and solve the interoperability challenge at the border. In August, SANDAG inventoried the data gaps on wait times in the California-Baja California border region, which it described as one of North America’s “most important and dynamic” economic zones.

“Demand [for mobility] is poised to outstrip supply at the region’s border crossings,” the agency warned. “While the crossings have become a critical element of the bi-national region’s economic integration and competitiveness, growing demand has led to increased congestion at border crossings and generated delay and unreliable crossing times for cars, trucks and pedestrians” at key points of entry.

“These delays and unreliability at the border have the potential to reduce the region’s economic competitiveness and attractiveness to business, which can translate into lower levels of economic activity and growth.”

In April, SANDAG and two other agencies launched a new study of the economic, air quality, and climate impacts of border delays in the region.

And San Diego isn’t the only jurisdiction on the front lines. The U.S. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) lists 46 crossings along the 1,945-mile border between the two countries, stating that “the number of bridges continues to grow to handle the cross-border traffic growth. In the next several years, at least five new bridges are planned to open at international border crossings on the southern border.” And “in the near future, California and Arizona have plans to start collecting tolls at selected border crossings.”

SANDAG’s Borders Committee has responded with a multi-pronged effort to coordinate activities with its neighbors in Mexico.

Getting the Region in Motion

When there’s a tough problem to be wrestled with, both Mexico and the United States are countries where business has a big role in building solutions.

If the problem is highway congestion, the tolling industry has a suite of proven solutions that can be adapted to the more complicated, sometimes politically fraught setting of an international border crossing.

And if that business activity begins with informal conversations, IBTTA’s Summit of the Americas is the place where the right interactions will take place—in formal sessions, and in the informal conversations that break out in the corridors and exhibition hall.

If you already do business along the border, you already know that you can’t miss this event. If you’re just learning the region but see yourself in the picture, don’t delay before registering for the Summit.

Click here for more on IBTTA’s Summit of the Americas, October 16-18 in Mexico City.