Rendering of Green Corridors’ autonomous shuttle on a raised guideway. (Green Corridors)
Key Takeaways:
- Developer Green Corridors will begin building prototypes for its presidentially approved elevated freight bridge and shuttle system in Laredo, Texas, over the next six months.
- The $6 billion to $10 billion Project Pegasi aims to reduce congestion, fraud and emissions by moving 2,500 diesel hybrid shuttles in platoons between Monterrey, Mexico, and Laredo.
- Executives said testing will run on a 2-mile track by late 2026 and that the company is securing Mexican permits and planning inland terminals and required inspection facilities.
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Developers of an ambitious elevated freight bridge at the U.S.-Mexico border in Laredo, Texas, using automated shuttles are set to begin building their first prototypes over the next six months.
The freight transportation guideway and bridge across the Rio Grande received presidential approval in June.
Cross-border truck traffic mitigation, fraud and theft reduction, decreased freight market inefficiencies, and reduced transportation sector emissions would be among the benefits, according to the top executive at developer Green Corridors.
The current Laredo crossing — the busiest U.S. truck land border crossing — is one of four freight routes that connect Texas and Mexico. Additional crossings are in Brownsville, Eagle Pass and El Paso.
Green Corridors’ “Project Pegasi” proposal would involve shuttles, lifts for containers or trailers and the guideway, with prototypes for each element set to be built in the next six months, CEO Mitch Carlson told Transport Topics in an exclusive interview.
(Green Corridors)
Houston-based Green Corridors — which has 20 employees — is designing the prototypes now, said Carlson, noting that the shuttles have been designed digitally, right down to the welding procedures.
“We have been designing and iterating the system for over three years using digital twin modeling. Manufacturing and testing Version 1 of the shuttle and terminal are commencing in 2026,” Carlson said. “This is not just something off the shelf.”
The shuttles have reached Technology Readiness Level 4, said Carlson, and over the next couple of months will be moving to Level 7. TRL is a project scale designed by NASA that goes up to nine, which signifies the most mature technology.
The shuttles will use diesel hybrid propulsion and be made of steel. There will be a 2-mile test track with an S-curve. The test track will be completed by August or September 2026, the executive told TT. When operational, transportation would involve a four- to five-hour journey by shuttle from Monterrey, Mexico, to Laredo.
Manufacturing will take place in Texas or Nuevo Leon, Mexico. The cost of the project is estimated at between $6 billion and $10 billion.
“It’s a moving target, very difficult to say exactly, but it’s around $10 billion,” Carlson said. “Goods are changing prices, due to various factors. It’s hard to predict where prices will be over a five-year time span.”
Project Pegasi will be financed by a combination of debt and equity. Much of the funding will come from infrastructure funds, Carlson said.
The shuttles will operate in platoons. The cross-border project will see 2,500 shuttles operating on the guideway.
Green Corridors CEO Mitch Carlson. (Green Corridors)
“You’ve got to think of it more as a conveyor belt,” he said. “We’re not a high-speed service. It’s slow and steady wins the race.”
Serial entrepreneur Carlson also is CEO of hydraulic workover equipment manufacturer Snubbertech. The company has operations in Fort Worth, Texas, and Edmonton, Alberta — close to two of the largest oil patches in North America.
Snubbertech has been doing a lot of the design work and is likely to carry out a high percentage of the manufacturing. “We’re very capable of manufacturing this equipment,” he said.
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The presidential permit and associated agreement requires Green Corridors to provide U.S. Customs and Border Protection and other agencies with suitable inspection facilities, infrastructure improvements, equipment and maintenance facilities at no cost to the public purse.
As a result, Green Corridors is looking at locations in Monterrey and Laredo for the shuttle’s end points. The inland terminals will be at greenfield sites. Green Corridors is very close to obtaining a complete set of permits in Mexico, Carlson said.
He also noted Green Corridors might build a truck stop.
There are many benefits to the shuttle concept, Carlson said, including:
- Project Pegasi would operate 24 hours a day, whereas the current border crossing closes at night.
- The scanning for U.S. customs would take place in Mexico at the terminal, and then the goods are sent to Laredo. If it does need inspecting in the U.S., then there’s predictability for the third- or fourth-party logistics company scheduling pickup as well as the driver.
- The project would keep U.S. drivers north of the border and Mexican drivers in Mexico, avoiding any potential B-1 or H-2B visa problems.
- Once the shuttle is loaded, there’s no getting into it, minimizing fraud and theft opportunities.
Green Corridors, meanwhile, is developing mobile applications for truckers and 3PLs and the company is seeking patents for the loading process for moving the trailer onto the shuttles.
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