Transient queueing models for border crossing ports of entry: A non-stationary dynamic reallocation policy
Conference Paper
Overview
Overview
abstract
The United States international land boundary is a volatile, security intense area. In 2009, the combined trade was $735 billion within North American nations, with 80% transported by commercial trucks, and 85 billion tons passing between Brownsville and El Paso, Texas, through one of over 25 major border crossings called "ports of entry (POE)". Over 5 million commercial vehicles cross the Texas/Mexico border every year, not including private vehicles and pedestrian traffic. Recently, securing the southwest border from undocumented immigrants, terrorist interventions and the illegal flow of drugs and guns has dominated the need to efficiently and effectively process people, goods and traffic through the POEs. Increasing security and inspection requirements are seriously affecting transit times. Each POE is configured as a multi-commodity, prioritized queueing network which rarely, if ever, operates in steady state. This paper provides a summary of transient queueing network analysis conducted to analyze throughput rates, queue lengths, cycle times and configuration effectiveness. Particular emphasis is given to the dynamic reallocation of inspection (service) facilities and inspectors under time-varying arrivals (demands). Recent research in transient state queueing analysis will be presented within the context of this important problem, and suggestions for further research offered.
