PierPASS, Long Beach, CA., announced that its OffPeak program has diverted more than nine million truck trips from peak daytime traffic since the program's start three years ago.
The program, which created nighttime and Saturday shifts at the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach, has eliminated costly bottlenecks in the ports, reduced gridlock on area freeways and curtailed air pollution from idling traffic. The nine-millionth truck trip occurred during the week of June 23.

PierPASS also made available an independent evaluation of the OffPeak program, which concluded that the program is meeting its objectives of shifting truck traffic out of peak daytime traffic and recommended that the program continue to operate.

OffPeak shifts handle an average of 68,000 truck trips in a typical week, or about 40 percent of all container moves at the two ports on days with both peak and OffPeak shifts. Without the OffPeak program, most of these trips would shift back into peak daytime traffic Monday through Friday, causing heavy congestion on highways approaching the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports and thus increasing local air pollution.

The OffPeak program was launched in 2005 when rapid growth in container traffic led to severe traffic congestion in and around the ports. Community and elected leaders demanded that the terminals in the ports begin operating night shifts for container pick-ups and drop-offs. The goods movement industry proposed and industry-driven solution to provide financial incentive to move cargo outside of peak hours and a funding mechanism for five new shifts per week. The solution became the OffPeak program.

"The OffPeak program has caused a significant shift of port truck traffic from day to evening hours," the BST report concluded. "Without the financial incentive of the OffPeak program it is likely that traffic would shift back to daytime peak hours. The OffPeak Program has met its objectives and should be continued."

PierPASS is a not-for-profit company created by marine terminal operators at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to address multi-terminal issues such as congestion, security and air quality.

More info: www.pierpass.org