Professor Benjamin Melamed and I have been working on a project sponsored by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, titled “Modeling Methodology and Simulation of Port-of-Entry Systems” ($684,587 for the period 1/2016 to 6/2018).
The project involves devising a simulation modeling methodology and a suite of detailed simulation models of both pedestrian and vehicular traffic moving through busy ports-of-entry. Operating decisions at the ports-of-entry are currently made in an ad-hoc manner based primarily on observed traffic conditions. The model-based decision support systems will complement an existing empirical methodology of measuring waiting times at the ports-of-entry. It will be capable of answering “what if” questions, making it a planning tool to assess the performance impact of adding new lanes, additional inspection facilities, and personnel as well as to assess the impact of a surge of traffic in the event of a disruption.