Documenting Truck Activity Times at International Border Crossings Using Redesigned Geofences and Existing Onboard Systems

Author(s):  
Mark R. McCord ◽  
Prem K. Goel ◽  
Colin Brooks ◽  
Prasenjit Kapat ◽  
Richard Wallace ◽  
...  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Jouni HÄKLI

The global volume of travel has grown steadily for decades and hence the border closures and travel restrictions in response to COVID-19 have created an unforeseen impact on the number of international border crossings. In air traffic alone the data show a striking 75.6% decrease in the number of scheduled international passengers. We might hasten to think that the strict travel restrictions due to the COVID-19 crisis have in principle treated mobile populations equally – for once we have all been banned from travelling. We could even consider the recent initiatives to introduce “vaccination certificates” as a fair and democratic way to reintroduce safe international travelling. In reality, the idea of a COVID-19 certificate is but a new layer in the broader landscape of highly uneven global mobility where travellers’ citizenship and place of origin truly matter. This article discusses some of the major inequalities embedded in the global mobility regime and argues that the idea of the COVID-19 certificate as an equaliser remains completely disconnected from these underlying realities. To conclude, the article discusses problems related to uneven access to digital travel documents, such as the proposed COVID-19 certificate.


2014 ◽  
Vol 41 (6) ◽  
pp. 543-579 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle Carnegie

Abstract Sailing-trading livelihoods in southeastern Indonesia have undergone significant change during the later half of the twentieth century and into the twenty-first century. This study identifies how geopolitical, economic, legal and technological drivers of change shape sailing-trading livelihoods. Using an integrated approach, it shows how these macro-level drivers articulate with sailor-traders’ individual and group-based responses at the local level. The findings highlight that over the study period, small-scale inter-island trading within Indonesia’s borders became increasingly competitive and monopolised. In response, sailor-traders strategically adopted new opportunities that involve international border crossings, including to Australia to harvest sea cucumber, transport asylum seekers and undertake work while serving prison terms. The concluding remarks are that while aspects of contemporary sailing-trading livelihoods are temporal and unsustainable, the overall ebb and flow of livelihoods reflects a broader pattern of adaptive responses amidst ongoing change.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily Kane ◽  
Ariana Popa ◽  
Queenie Li ◽  
Paul Sommers

  The authors examine the impact of President Donald Trump’s June 9, 2018 tweet disparaging Group of 7 (G7) summit host Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Canada – United States border crossings over the Peace Bridge.  The Peace Bridge is one of the busiest international border crossings in North America that connects Fort Erie, Ontario and Buffalo, New York.  A regression analysis of daily automobile crossings between January 1, 2017 and December 31, 2019 (using seasonality dummy variables and controlled for year fixed effects) revealed a statistically discernible reduction in the number of crossings (both east into the United States and, to a lesser extent, west into Canada) seven, fourteen, and even thirty days after the tweet.  Words have consequences. 


2018 ◽  
Vol 120 (5) ◽  
pp. 1-54
Author(s):  
Brendan H. O'Connor

Background/Context A growing body of literature addresses the experiences of transnational students, but relatively little research has focused on students who negotiate international border crossings on a regular basis. This study documents the role of cross-border mobility in the lives of university students in Brownsville, Texas (U.S.)/Matamoros, Tamaulipas (Mex.) and links students’ transnational experiences to their development of critical cosmopolitan identities and perspectives. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study This study explores South Texas university students’ lived experiences of cross-border mobility at a time of sociopolitical upheaval in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands and illuminates how specific forms of mobility can shape students’ educational and social subjectivities. Research Design An insider-outsider researcher and two undergraduate insiders collaborated to design and implement the study. An online survey was used to gather basic information about students’ cross-border mobility and educational experiences; subsequently, 16 focal participants were selected to participate in ethnographic interviews. Interview data were analyzed in NVivo using a two-cycle coding process and triangulated with survey data. Findings/Results Cross-border mobility offered academic and social benefits to the participants, but the benefits of mobility were inextricable from its drawbacks. Participants acknowledged the everyday difficulties associated with cross-border mobility; they also believed that these difficulties made them more responsible and successful. In addition, while participants spoke openly about the impact of violence on the borderlands, having to navigate this reality allowed them to develop a powerful form of insight connected to “knowing two versions” (one from each side of the border) of events. Conclusions/Recommendations The results invite researchers and educators to engage more critically with the cosmopolitan voices of students from areas often regarded as sites of marginality, poverty, and violence, such as the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. Participants’ cross-border experiences simultaneously challenged and benefited them; these experiences gave them opportunities to construct, traverse, and inhabit a wider range of emotional geographies where they could make sense of their relationships to people, events, and places on both sides of the border. On the border, conflict of the heart or of the nation has but one cure: recognition of jointness


2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 261-285
Author(s):  
Jessica R. Lesnau

In a world where global economies are increasingly interdependent, the United States, and its North American counterparts, Canada and Mexico, are booming sources of international trade. Now, more than ever, global competitiveness necessitates developments in U.S. infrastructure, especially at major border crossings where congestion and poor infrastructure create bottlenecks interfering with the free movement of goods. Questions pertaining to international border crossings circle the debate at the most crucial international border crossing in North America: the Ambassador Bridge, which spans the Detroit River between Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario. A legal battle rages over the proposed construction of a new publicly owned bridge that will compete with the eighty-six-year-old privately owned bridge. Many questions surround this topic, including whether the United States may allow the construction of a bridge that competes with a private individual’s livelihood. Is there a compelling case for a government taking in favor of public infrastructure? Should a private individual be able to own a major international border crossing? Additionally, in anticipation of construction of a new bridge, what will be the implications for the community that must give up its property to make way for the construction? This Comment will focus on the conflict over the construction of the New International Trade Crossing (NITC), also known as the “Bridge to the Future,” in competition with the Ambassador Bridge and its relevance to the conversation of border infrastructure. It will further demonstrate some of the pitfalls in the private ownership of an international border crossing—as well as some that inhere in government ownership—arguing for a new infrastructure model that promotes collaboration between the public and private sectors. Ultimately, this Article will argue that, like the NITC, future border infrastructure projects should be developed through the use of public-private partnerships (hereinafter “P3s”) to promote North American trade development.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document