Convergence of Transportation Congestion and Transportation Security at a U.S. Seaport

Convergence of Transportation Congestion and Transportation Security at U.S Seaport
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Abstract
This research paper attempts to provide some insight into the convergence issues of transportation congestion and transportation security at U.S seaports. Evidence reveals that these issues have been in existence for a long time, and they continue to cost the country billions of dollars. Since the national economy suffers from these issues, it is important to come up with some possible solutions to deal with them. The government has put in numerous mechanisms, such as expanding the roads, but the problem persists. The problems that arise include delayed movement of people and goods. There are also increased cases of insecurity. To deal with these issues effectively, it is important to employ modern technology. One area of technology that can be capitalized on is artificial intelligence. Through this field of technology, self-driving trucks with the ability to work 24 hours a day may be developed. The port may also utilize artificial intelligence to ensure that little or no human intervention is required. There is no doubt that such technological advancements would help to efficiently alleviate some of the problems arising from the convergence of transportation congestion and transportation security.
Introduction
In the modern world, technological advancements are occurring at an unprecedented rate. The incorporation of these advancements into our lives helps make it easier and more seamless. Despite this observation, some areas of our lives seem to remain the same even with technological advancement. One such area is the problem of traffic at seaports. The issue has persisted for many years, and there seems to be no effective solution. It is high time to utilize the power of technology to deal with these problems. In modern days, machines can be taught to behave like people. Since they are machines, they are likely to do even better jobs since they will not get tired, emotional, or even complain (Rose et al., 2018). There are ways in which this technology can be integrated into the sea and port transport systems to ensure alleviating the problems mentioned above. This paper will focus on identifying the possible ways in which technology can be utilized to come up with solutions to problems related to congestion and security in seaports. Modern technology such as artificial intelligence may offer long-term solutions to the endemic problems of convergence of transportation congestion and transportation security.
Literature Review
Transport congestion at U.S ports is a common phenomenon. The congestion has particularly increased in the last few years. An example of a seaport in the United States that experiences transport congestion is the Los Angeles port. The congestion costs the economy billions of dollars annually due to the time wasted. Due to the convergence, the movement of both people and goods becomes a nightmare. Considering that the population of the United States is constantly rising, the problem of traffic congestion at seaports will continue increasing unless some urgent measures are taken to alleviate the problem. One of the solutions is to build more highways so that the port becomes decongested. However, such a solution can only be used for the short term. The Texas Transport institute recently revealed that thousands of hours are lost due to the traffic jams caused by seaport congestions. Further, traffic jams lead to the consumption of at least three billion more gallons of fuel (Levitskaya et al., 2019). It is without a doubt that the issue of transport convergence at the seaports need to be addressed. With more than 350 seaports in the United States, the question of transportation security becomes important (Levitskaya et al., 2019). The government of the United States has invested greatly in security. It has also invested in educating the public on some important security measures to take and reporting any crime or suspected criminal activities. At the seaports, various security screenings are carried out to ensure safety. The government also employs modern technology at the ports to ensure that the passengers and cargo are scrutinized well before...