Studying border crossing choice behavior of trucks moving between Ontario, Canada and the United States

The effectiveness of trade between Canada and US relies heavily on land borders. This study uses GPS data to explore the movement of trucks across four major border crossings in southwestern and southeastern parts of the Canadian province of Ontario. Multinomial logit models are estimated to examine the route choice decisions of trucks using the four crossings. While observed crossing time has a significant and negative influence on the observed choices, its impact is generally inelastic. More importantly, the geographic location of truck trip origins and destinations appear to play a more significant role in choosing the border crossing, suggesting that geography is at play when it comes to the choice of a land border. Finally, the results suggest that long-haul trips tend to favor the Ambassador Bridge crossing that connects Windsor, Ontario to Detroit, Michigan.