In addition to the TBWG, there are several regional binational bodies that coordinate planning efforts along the U.S.–Canada border: the International Mobility and Trade Corridor Program (IMTC), the Eastern Border Transportation Coalition (EBTC), and the Western Border Working Group (WBWG). These groups focus on regional and local border transportation planning issues and promote initiatives through research, technology, and infrastructure to advance U.S.-Canada land border transportation.
The International Mobility & Trade Corridor Program (IMTC) identifies and promotes improvements to mobility and security for the border crossings that connect Whatcom County, Washington State and Lower Mainland British Columbia. Together, this region is known as the Cascade Gateway. For nineteen years IMTC participants have coordinated planning, identified shared system needs, and optimized investments and operations through collaboration, innovation, and partnerships. Its membership includes U.S. and Canadian transportation agencies, inspection agencies, municipalities, MPOs, and non-governmental organizations. IMTC conducts regional projects in the Cascade Gateway, including cross-border freight studies, passenger intercept surveys, NEXUS & FAST marketing, truck pre-clearance evaluation, order facilities assessments, border simulation modeling, ITS initiatives, and more. It also takes regional action regarding national policies through TBWG, and develops tools and resources, including but not limited to the annual Cascade Gateway Project List, a Cascade Gateway Construction Schedule, the Cascade Gateway Border Data Warehouse, and the U.S.-Canada Border Data Warehouse.
The Eastern Border Transportation Coalition (EBTC) is non-profit membership organization whose members include the state DOTs of Michigan, New York, Vermont, and Maine and the Canadian Provinces of Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. EBTC provides a forum within which these members, as well as MPOs, border service agencies, and public and private organizations can coordinate to support the multimodal transportation system leading to and along the US-Canada border. EBTC supports the initiatives outlined in the Beyond the Border Action Plan, and has contributed to the success of many of these initiatives, including but not limited to the facilitation of cross-border business by taking steps to ensure that business travelers benefit from more efficient and predictable border clearance processes, increasing membership in the NEXUS program to more than 1.1 million members, and implementing 24-hour access to NEXUS lanes at the Peace Bridge LPOE. EBTC supports TBWG in implementing its action plan, attends TWBG plenaries and peer exchanges, and participates in the development of five-year border infrastructure investment plans (BIIPs). In 2016, EBTC focused its efforts on supports rail preclearance programs and improvements to cross-border data sharing.
The Western Border Working Group (WBWG) was formed by resolution of the nine participating jurisdictions on April 24, 2015. The group was initially known as the Inland Border Working Group (IBWG), but the name was changed on April 20, 2017 to better reflect the geographic location of its members in the Western U.S. states and Canadian provinces. The WBWG is comprised of transportation agencies in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia in Canada as well as Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana, Idaho and Washington in the United States. WBWG participates on the TBWG Steering Committee with IMTC and EBTC as a regional border organization. A governance document for WBWG was adopted by the membership on April 6, 2016. A representative from Manitoba Infrastructure and the North Dakota DOT chaired and co-chaired, respectively, the organization for the first two-year term of the organization (2015-2017). After the initial term expired, chairs and co-chairs have rotated among U.S. and Canadian members. The WBWG has been instrumental in providing input to the TBWG co-chairs for the biannual plenary meetings and leading and working on activities in the TBWG Action Plans.
