12 Border Guards = $8.6 Million

WINDSOR, ON – The author of an academic study on wait times at land border crossings says the research could be useful in convincing Canada Border Protection Services to hire additional border guards.

Dr. Adam Rose, a research professor at the University of Southern California, said the study, entitled The Impact on the U.S. Economy of Changes in Wait Times at Ports of Entry has already been used successfully in the U.S. to bolster a request to Congress for more U.S. border agents.

Speaking at a meeting of the Cross-Border Institute at the University of Windsor on Wednesday, Rose said the study revealed how adding border staff at land crossings not only reduces truck wait times, but brings economic benefits to both countries.

He said the addition of just one guard at each of 12 border crossings – seven along the border with Mexico, and five along the border with Canada – during the most congested times would result in 30 new jobs in the U.S., and a $3-million increase in U.S. GDP.

“It doesn’t sound big, but it is a positive,” Rose said. “And it shows that, in general, adding more staff improves the economic situation for all sides.”

Indeed, with that investment of 12 U.S. border guards, Canadian GDP would rise by US $8.6 million, while the Mexican GDP would rise by US$4.8 million.

A win-win situation 

Rose, who described wait times at border crossing as “an often neglected aspect of international trade policy,” said the study was intended to be a template for others to follow.

“Someone in Canada could use our methodology to produce an analogous study for Canada,” he said. “Additional border guards in Canada would likely have a greater benefit to the U.S., but the data clearly show a benefit to both sides. If you reduce impediments at the border, both sides gain. It’s a win-win outcome.”

Jennifer Fox, vice president trade and security for the Ontario Trucking Association, thinks the benefit to Canada could be even higher than the model suggests because the majority of trucking companies that traverse the border are Canadian.

“This is great information because it puts numbers on things we already knew were the case,” she said. “The value of a study like this is the ability to take it to legislators and explain why more border patrol officers are needed.”

She said there’s been a noticeable shortfall in the number of border guards on the Canadian side, more so than on the American side.

Stan Korosec, director of security and governmental relations Canada for the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, commented: “For the last couple of years, wait times have been reduced going into the United States. That is a direct result of proper staffing. And they’re getting more officers. We should see them in the Detroit area by next year sometime,” he said. “But we’ve had some issue with CBSA and their staffing. There are not enough border guards.”

He said a recent letter to the Minister of Public Safety Steven Blaney urges him to ensure that the Canada Border Services Agency has the resources and staffing to do their jobs.

He said wait times is something that border monitors have been talking about for years.

“It is a matter of having the inspection lanes open when they need to be open, during the peak times. One inspection booth, in an hour, will handle about 30 trucks, which is significant,” he said. “We see it ourselves when booths are closed or when they finally open up, how traffic is affected. And now we have some data and some research to support what we’ve been seeing on the ground for many, many years.”

Rose said the cost to trucking companies of wait times at the border include driver wages, diesel fuel, routine operating costs, administrative costs, and opportunity costs.

The northern border crossings examined in his study were the Pacific Highway crossing in Blaine, Wash. (near Langley, B.C.), the Lewiston and Peace bridges (both in Niagara Falls, Ont.), the Windsor Tunnel, and the Ambassador Bridge (both in Windsor, Ont.)

The study was published in the September issue of the academic journal Transport Policy. It was funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Customs and Border Protection Agency, and was conducted by the Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events.

Rose said the data will be ‘fine-tuned’ to gain even better resolution on individual ports of entry and different manufacturing sectors.


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