Introduction
The El Paso/Ciudad Juarez/Santa Teresa region is a major international port. El Paso straddles the border of three states and two nations. The city sits at the center of I-10, a major cross-country artery that stretches from the Pacific to the Atlantic, U.S. 54, a direct link to Chicago that is the preferred route for truckers, the I-25 route north to Denver, and rail in four directions. 62 million people cross our border every year. Our airport boasts the largest and most complex air cargo complex on the U.S.-Mexico border. Our location right in the center of the all-weather southern route across the U.S. means we are 24 hours from any destination north or south in a just-in-time world. How can we best promote our potential as a great port?

Premier "Just-in-Time Port": Using RMAs
Trade with Mexico supports one in five Texas jobs, and exports to Mexico make up approximately 14 percent of the state's gross product. In 1999, $100 billion in two-way commercial vehicle trade crossed the Texas-Mexico border alone. There are 23 international crossings in Texas' 2,000-mile border with Mexico. 725,000 northbound trucks crossed El Paso's border in 2001.

Since most of the U.S.-Mexico trade is moved across land via commercial vehicle, Texas' crossings have become overburdened choke points for international trade. We have seen a four-fold increase in cross-border trade over the past fifteen years, but neither the U.S. nor Mexico has made sufficient investments in the transportation infrastructure to support this growth. Moreover, truck traffic is expected to increase 85 percent over the next three decades.

Currently, depending on the type of load, commercial vehicles must pass through multiple levels of inspections, including customs, agriculture, drug, immigration, and safety inspections. Staffing challenges and limited coordination between Federal and state agencies have contributed to the congestion.

Over the past several years, Texas has developed a number of Regional Mobility Authorities (RMAs), which give local leaders control over local infrastructure projects. RMAs can study, evaluate, design, finance, acquire, construct, maintain, repair, and operate public transportation projects, including rail, air, and public utility facilities. RMAs also allow local authorities to levy tolls, use the power of eminent domain, and issue revenue bonds to support local infrastructure development. RMAs empower officials to address local transportation needs more quickly than a statewide approach and ensure that funds raised will be used locally.

Due to legislation passed by our office, El Paso's RMA can fund projects outside of Texas, allowing the Authority to design and fund international transportation infrastructure projects. Using RMAs to invest in strategic commercial border infrastructure will speed passage across the border and bolster highways to handle increased traffic. El Paso also is the only city that can form its own RMA as a city, rather than at the county level, giving the city greater control over its transportation future. El Paso has not yet taken full advantage of its unique RMA to identify and invest in infrastructure projects to improve international commercial routes. A smart toll plan, for example, could allow the city to build twice as many roads, in less time.

One-Stop Inspections: Moving People and Product in Minutes Not Hours
To make El Paso attractive to industry, the city needs to speed movement across the border. The key task is to secure borders, yet ease unnecessary burdens on individual and commercial movement.

The "one stop" border concept combines processing and inspection by various federal and state agencies into a single inspection point, rather than the multiple levels currently exist. A system of "one stop" border inspection would facilitate the flow of commerce, improve federal efforts aimed at interdiction, protect public health, decrease pollution from long idling times for commercial vehicles, and prevent overweight trucks from further damaging Texas highways. Research has shown that a one-stop or no-stop automated border is feasible for the majority of trucks and can be implemented at a relatively low cost. El Paso should invest now in the technology needed to bring the various border inspection agencies together.

SecureOrigins is one of example of this type of technology. This system would secure trucks with intelligent seals and track shipments by GPS satellite from origin to destination, limiting the volume of inspections at the border. Other improvements are needed, such as Fast and Secure Trade (FAST) Lanes, which provide pre-clearance lanes for high-volume manufacturers, and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), which is used to identify and speed passage for trusted commercial traffic.

Steps also should be taken to facilitate the flow of individuals across the border, to allow Mexican residents to be full participants in El Paso's retail economy. Enrollment in El Paso's dedicated commuter lanes (DCLs) is approaching 9,000 users registered to over 6,000 vehicles. Expanding use of these lanes will allow the city to open its markets up to freer use by citizens across the border. "Smart cards" embedded with biometric identifiers could be used to allow quick and reliable identification of trusted border citizens who pose no health or safety risk, allowing them to cross more quickly.

Paso del Norte Port Designation
Major U.S. ports in coastal cities employ port authorities to build and fund infrastructure, expedite cross-border traffic, and decrease congestion. Port authorities are administrative entities devoted to constructing, managing, maintaining, and improving ports. In cities such as Houston and Seattle, port authorities have proven to be strong economic engines, generating jobs, business development, and tax revenues.

Currently, west coast seaports are overburdened with increasing volumes and labor disputes, creating a backlog of goods. High-volume "big box" retailers are planning an alternative route to service just-in-time markets with Asian-made goods. By utilizing ports on the west coast of Mexico, shippers and manufacturers hope to circumvent the constrained U.S. seaports. Products will be shipped overland, through the Mexican state of Chihuahua, to land ports on the U.S. Mexico border. In just a few years, this route could become a major new trade corridor. El Paso's location makes it a natural choice to quickly move products into the U.S. from this new corridor.

But without a formal port designation, El Paso cannot efficiently coordinate efforts between multiple federal, Texas, and Mexican authorities working at the border. A bi-national port authority would be able to build and operate infrastructure, cut red tape, and expedite commerce.

El Paso is moving in the right direction. This year, the Legislature provided funding to develop the Center for International Intelligent Transportation Research (CIITR) in El Paso. A branch of the Texas Transportation Institute, CIITR will focus on developing and applying Intelligent Transportations Systems and other advanced technologies to address international transportation issues. The Center's priorities will be to facilitate traffic management using advanced technologies, improve safe and secure movement of people and goods across the border, and address transportation-related air quality issues. In addition to improving El Paso's transportation system, the Center will take advantage of the city's unique geographic position as a "laboratory" for transportation research to be applied in other international settings.

Federal funding also could support El Paso's role in promoting safe and secure movement. Earlier this year, the state applied for a grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to fund a pilot project in Texas with two goals:
• First, the project would establish a "low risk" port of entry to speed border crossings for commercial users and individual commuters, allowing inspectors to expedite trusted border crossers and concentrate resources on "higher risk" traffic.
• Second, the pilot project would increase secure "throughput" at commercial crossings by 25 percent within 12 months by streamlining security processes, cooperating with Mexican authorities, and expanding secure alternative inspection programs.

As the largest metroplex port on the Texas-Mexico border, El Paso is a natural site for this federal-state project.

Expand International Rail
Currently, El Paso-bound truck cargo traffic originating in the maquiladoras of eastern Juarez must take a circuitous route to their destinations. Trucks travel west, through downtown Juarez, and across the Rio Grande west of the two cities. Then, trucks use I-10 to travel back east to destinations at Fort Bliss and the El Paso International Airport. This increasingly heavy traffic contributes to highway congestion and wear on transportation infrastructure.

As an alternative, El Paso should invest in cargo rail, which moves freight with less injury, fewer fatalities, less pollution, and at a lower overall cost than trucks. The city needs to develop a secure transit corridor to shift cargo from commercial trucks to rapid rail and air routes that service just-in-time markets nationwide. Cargo would be transferred from trucks to rail at the border, transported via secure rapid rail either to Fort Bliss or the El Paso Airport's recently expanded air cargo facility, where cargo could then be loaded onto planes to serve nationwide markets. This intermodal corridor would be shorter, faster, more secure, and cheaper than the current truck route.

The city also should invest in a secure light rail system for transport of people within the El Paso-Juarez metroplex. Public transportation would allow commuters and shoppers to avoid what often is a two-hour wait at the border for privately owned vehicles. A commuter light rail would ease congestion and reduce pollution from idling vehicles waiting at the border, as well as providing a low-cost way for individuals to commute. Reducing commuter vehicles at the border also would ease congestion for international commercial traffic.

Conclusion
El Paso is a natural hub for movement--of people, product, trucks, trains, and planes. The city is poised to become a major port of trade between just-in-time markets worldwide. Already, El Paso's leaders have promoted the city as a major player in bi-national trade, working with officials in Texas and Mexico to put in place a set of infrastructure tools unique to all the Southwest. To harness this potential, we must use the tools carefully crafted by our state legislators to build key infrastructure and state-of-the-art technology to facilitate the movement that will take full advantage of El Paso's strategic position.