The effect of international trade agreements on transportation planning along the Texas-Mexico border

The ratification of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has elevated traditional local and state-level transportation planning efforts to the level of national and international planning and transportation policy. The implementation of NAFTA is creating significant problems for transportation planners, including increased commercial vehicle congestion, and an emphasis on institutional and political issues. The incremental implementation of elements of the trade agreement compounds planning problems as trade conditions, and subsequent demands on border transportation infrastructure, will be changing rapidly. Focusing primarily on commercial vehicle traffic, this paper provides an overview of NAFTA, institutional issues relating to transportation planning, state and local transportation planning efforts in Texas, and the research efforts of the Intelligent Transportation Systems Research Center of Excellence at Texas A&M University.