Oct 17, 2005 9:04 AM, from staff and wire reports

PierPASS Inc announced that more than half a million truck trips have been diverted from peak daytime traffic since the start of the OffPeak program July 23. This has relieved congestion inside the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach CA and reduced traffic congestion on area freeways.

On a typical day, more than 10,000 trucks use the new OffPeak shifts—enough to stretch from Long Beach to San Diego if lined up end-to-end. In the 10 weeks from July 23 through October 1, more than 503,000 truck trips took place during the OffPeak shifts (Monday through Thursday from 6 pm to 3 am and Saturday from 8 am to 6 pm).

The OffPeak program reached its two-year goal within two months. Since the start of the program, between 30% and 33% of container cargo at the ports has moved during OffPeak shifts on a typical day. When launching OffPeak in July, PierPASS said it aimed to shift 15% to 20% of all cargo movement to OffPeak shifts by the end of the first full year of operation, and 30% to 35% by the end of year two.