PierPass Inc. said more than 2 million truck trips have been diverted from peak daytime traffic since the start of the OffPeak program on July 23, 2005.

The program has eliminated costly bottlenecks at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and reduced gridlock on area freeways. Taking trucks out of stop-and-go daytime traffic and letting them move at night in faster-flowing traffic is also expected to have a positive impact on air quality around the ports.

Under the OffPeak program, all international container terminals in the two adjacent ports have established five new shifts per week (Monday through Thursday from 6 p.m. to 3 a.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.). As an incentive to use the new OffPeak shifts, a Traffic Mitigation Fee (TMF) is now required for most cargo movement during peak hours (Monday through Friday, 3 a.m. to 6 p.m.). The TMF is a financial assessment administered through PierPASS to finance the labor and operational costs of the additional OffPeak gates.

Since the start of the program, between 30 percent and 35 percent of container cargo at the ports has moved during the new OffPeak shifts on a typical day. In recent weeks that percentage has surpassed 35 percent, far exceeding initial expectations for the program.

The OffPeak program was launched with the support of state and local political leaders, local communities and cargo owners to reduce congestion in and around the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the busiest port complex in the United States and the fifth-largest in the world.

0 Comments