FHWA 51-16 - Niagara/Buffalo
Thursday, October 13, 2016
Contact: Nancy Singer
Tel.: 202-366-0660

USDOT Announces $7.8 Million Grant for Border Crossing Technologies in Niagara-Buffalo Region

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Transportation's (USDOT) Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) today announced a $7.8 million grant for the Niagara International Transportation Technology Coalition (NITTEC) and the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) to implement a variety of intelligent systems technologies (ITS) to provide real-time information to travelers and reduce delay at the US/Canada border.

“We are using innovative technology to tackle border congestion and improve travel efficiency,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said. “Accurate travel information will be an important tool in improving the flow of people and goods across US/Canada border—benefiting both individual travelers and businesses.”

NITTEC and NYSDOT received the $7.8 million grant under FHWA’s Advanced Transportation and Congestion Management Technologies Deployment (ATCMTD) program. The funds will used to deploy real-time information technologies to improve border crossing travel times and clearing traffic incidents near the border. These technologies will link to Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority systems to expand the existing Smart Mobility regional system, including an alert system that will warn truckers and motorists of inclement weather and delays. The system will also provide specific in-vehicle real-time traffic, parking and weather information for commercial drivers. It will upgrade signal systems, include transit information and integrate 9-1-1 Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) systems.

“This grant will improve the efficiency of freight movement,” FHWA Administrator Gregory Nadeau said. “It will help freight shippers avoid the delays that stifle commerce and economic growth.”

The award was part of a larger announcement totaling $56.6 million to fund advanced technologies various areas in the country. The ATCMTD program funds technologies that address the concerns outlined in Beyond Traffic, the USDOT report issued last year that examines the challenges facing America's transportation infrastructure over the next three decades, such as a rapidly growing population and increasing traffic.

ATCMTD was established under the “Fixing America's Surface Transportation” Act. State departments of transportation, local governments, transit agencies, metropolitan planning organizations and other eligible entities were invited to apply under the program.

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