Dashboard Tool to Communicate Delays and Economic Cost of Delays at International Border Crossings

The development of a dashboard tool to communicate key performance measures related to the cost of delay incurred by U.S.-bound commercial vehicles at international border crossings is discussed. Various framework and implementation aspects of such a dashboard are covered. These aspects include collection and processing of delay and economic cost data, design of the dashboard interface, calculations of performance measures, and finally its intended use for stakeholders. Two sets of metrics or key performance measures are discussed within the context of international land border crossings, the first pertaining to delay measures and the second to economic costs of delay. Definitions of “true delay” at border crossings and several delay measures are given, and the development of the same at varying temporal resolutions is reviewed. On the basis of a review of previously developed dashboards, the authors believe that the current effort is the first in which highly granular delay-related intelligent transportation system data have been integrated with economic components of delay in the arena of performance measurement. Nevertheless, the research focuses on delay incurred by the freight community at international land border crossings. Finally, data gaps and other theoretical issues that need addressing in the future to advance the discussion of a delay measure and its consequences at international land border crossings are treated. Regardless of challenges concerning data, the authors believe that a significant potential exists for dashboards to enhance the planning process among stakeholders and to optimize their decision-making processes.