Leveraging real-time data at the Port of Oakland to reduce delays and streamline goods movement

Ports are a key part of our global infrastructure – facilitating trade and commerce, providing connectivity between people and businesses, supplying our nations with goods and energy resources, and generally underpinning our economies and livelihoods. In the bustling world of global trade, our team’s expertise anchors progress at the heart of every harbor.

Our engineers and technologists serve as innovative planners and designers for Alameda County Transportation Commission (Alameda CTC) and the Port of Oakland (Port), designing a complex ecosystem to help streamline operations to reduce long wait queues for trucks entering marine terminals, reduce truck emissions, increase multimodal access to commercial developments and empower future sustainable growth. In short, by harmonizing technology and infrastructure, we’re charting a course toward sustainable growth.

In addition, the integration of the project has enabled the port to reduce shipping costs, improve port competitiveness by creating a greener, more efficient future and create jobs. 

Leveraging technology for a more connected, sustainable future…

The Port is a large multimodal shipping facility located on the west coast of the U.S. in Oakland, California. Plagued by truck traffic volumes that routinely exceed the capacity for terminal and surrounding arterial street operations, which leads to the development of long waits at the terminals and large queues on the arterial roads, the port needed a solution to alleviate congestion into the future, especially with anticipated large growth.

That’s where Jacobs came in, developing an Intelligent Transportation Systems and Technology (ITST) Master Plan for the Alameda CTC for implementation in and around the port. The Master Plan served as guiding document for the port that defined and prioritized infrastructure investments in technology to optimize goods movement, improve traffic information and surveillance and create a comprehensive traffic and emergency operation management center. 

The Master Plan was submitted to the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) as part of a grant application to provide funding for final design and construction. In October 2017, USDOT awarded Alameda CTC the Advanced Transportation and Congestion Management Technologies Deployment Grant, which covered significant portion of construction funding. 

Following the planning phase and award of the grant, we designed a complex ecosystem of 15 sub-systems that included fiber network expansion and optimization, center-to-center communication, Wi-Fi network deployment for public use, camera and radio frequency identification (RFID) reader deployments enhancing incident detection and transportation security and planning, as well as, developing frameworks for mobile applications that enhance existing and forecasted traffic circulation and parking facilities. The information gleaned from these new technology deployments will ultimately streamline terminal-drayage operations to reduce arterial queuing and truck idling/emissions.

To process and control all the new systems and information being collected, Jacobs also designed a new Traffic Management Center / Emergency Operations Center (TMC/EOC) located in the Port’s existing maintenance and operations building and conceptualized the Advanced Traffic Management System (ATMS) to serve as the brains of the control center. 

The final plans, specifications and estimate were delivered to the client (Alameda CTC) on time and within budget. Throughout the construction phase, Jacobs worked closely with the client and its construction management team, VSCE, inc., to provide design services, supported construction progress meetings, and coordinated with affected partner agencies or external agencies/municipalities.

In the fall of 2020, the project entered the integration phase where Jacobs' continued involvement included supporting the Systems Management, coordinating with Parsons Transportation Group, the System Integrator, and working with the construction team for the Freight Intelligent Transportation System (FITS) equipment installation, and with the various stakeholders to integrate the subsystems and field elements into the newly built TMC/EOC and operating ATMS, Smart Parking System (SPS) and Oakland Portal. 

… and award-winning benefits that last

Applying our domain knowledge across the port’s program's lifecycle, we developed a best-in-class strategy. Our team’s innovative approach not only enhances Port situational awareness but, also, our upgraded technology and infrastructure minimizes and manages truck wait times, manages truck congestion in nearby communities and improves traffic circulation. 

With our innovative solutions, the port is poised to sail into a greener, more efficient future. This project improves marine terminal efficiencies, improves truck traffic flows, increases the efficiency of goods movement operations, and enhances the safety and incident response capabilities throughout the seaport. The reduced congestion, truck idling, and related emissions improve air quality in the surrounding communities that are traditional low income and historically undeserved. Additionally, the increased efficiencies improve Port competitiveness, benefit the economy, and created jobs.

With solutions and lasting benefits like these, it’s no wonder the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) California recognized the project, and our team, with a 2024 Merit Award. These annual awards recognize outstanding achievements in engineering and land surveying projects completed by California firms across categories such as research and consulting engineering services; structural systems; environmental; water resources; transportation; special projects and more.