BTS, a part of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration, released the data as part of the eighth annual update of the North American Transportation Statistics (NATS) online database. A product of the North American Transportation Statistics Interchange established in 1991, the NATS online database contains the most comparable transportation-related data available from the United States, Canada, and Mexico in a one-stop online resource.Wednesday, November 14, 2012 - Almost 93 million personal vehicles entered the United States in 2011, 31.6 million from Canada, and 61.2 million from Mexico, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics' (BTS). Additionally, 10.4 million trucks, 322 thousand buses, and 35 thousand trains entered the United States last year (Table 1).

The database covers the following subject areas: demographics, transportation, the economy, transportation safety, transportations impact on energy and the environment, domestic and international freight activity, domestic and international passenger travel, transportation infrastructure, and vehicles. The NATS online database is co-sponsored by BTS and the U.S. Census Bureau with the federal-level transportation and statistical agencies of Canada and Mexico.

The NATS online database includes data on U.S. trade and transportation with Canada and Mexico. In 2011, goods valued at more than $1.06 trillion crossed the U.S. border in trade with Canada and Mexico, 15 percent higher than in 2010, and 44 percent higher than 2009 (Table 2).

The economic recovery from the recent global economic downturn has shown different effects on freight shipment between the United States, Canada and Mexico. The total trade between the United States and Mexico experienced a 17 percent decrease in 2009 over 2008, but recovered quickly, and in 2011 and reached its highest level ($461 billion) since 2006. After experiencing a 40 percent decrease in 2009, the total trade between the United States and Canada also recovered and had an 12 percent increase in 2011 from 2010 (Table 2).

Data in the NATS online database show the importance of the various modes of transportation involved in the movement of goods between Canada, Mexico and the United States. Road carried 62 percent of the total freight valued at $625 billion in 2011. Rail carried 15 percent of total freight by value, followed by maritime with 11 percent, pipeline with 8 percent, and air with 4 percent. Among all modes, road had the largest increase in shipment value, $69 billion, from 2010 to 2011. The value of freight shipment for air, water, road, and rail modes reached their highest level since 2006 (NATS online database, Table 6-1c(link is external)).

Data in the NATS online database also show Americas top gateways for trade with Canada and Mexico. In 2011, Laredo, Texas was the top road gateway with $117.3 billion in international road shipments passing through that gateway (Table 3).

Three new maritime indicators on the number of water ports and facilities and top handling ports by tonnage and TEUs (20-foot equivalent units) for each country were added to the NATS online database this year. These new indicators were developed in response to the need for harmonized data to support maritime transportation decision-making at national and trilateral levels.

With text available in English, French, and Spanish, the NATS online database can be found at https://www144.statcan.gc.ca/nats-stna/tables-tableaux-eng.htm. Additionally, the NATS incorporates technical and methodological footnotes to provide users with interpretation and analysis.

TABLE 1.2011 VEHICLE CROSSINGS INTO THE UNITED STATES

(thousands of crossings)

SOURCE: North American Transportation Statistics Online Database, available at https://www144.statcan.gc.ca/nats-stna/tables-tableaux-eng.htm, as of October 25, 2012.

NOTES: Truck crossings: Number of arriving trucks; does not include privately owned pick-up trucks.
Train crossings: Rail data for U.S.-Mexico border are for rail (loaded and unloaded) containers and U.S.-Canada numbers are for number of trains, not containers. Privately owned vehicle crossings: Number of privately owned vehicles (POVs) arriving at a particular port.  Includes pick-up trucks, motorcycles, recreational vehicles, taxis, snow-mobiles, ambulances, hearses, and other motorized private ground vehicles. Bus crossings: Number of arriving buses at a particular port, whether or not they are carrying passengers.

TABLE 2.U.S. MERCHANDISE TRADE WITH CANADA AND MEXICO BY FREIGHT TRANSPORTATION MODE

(billions of current dollars)

SOURCE: North American Transportation Statistics Online Database, available at https://www144.statcan.gc.ca/nats-stna/tables-tableaux-eng.htm, as of October 25, 2012.

NOTES: Individual modes do not sum to total trade figures because the total includes freight moved by "other modes" such as aircraft from manufacturer to customers, pedestrians carrying freight, and miscellaneous. Due to the rounding of certain numbers tabulated, sum totals of U.S.-Canada and U.S.-Mexico trade vary slightly.

TABLE 3. TOP 10 U.S. GATEWAYS TRADING WITH CANADA AND MEXICO BY TRUCK

Ranked by 2011 Road Trade Value

(millions of dollars)

SOURCE: North American Transportation Statistics Online Database, available at https://www144.statcan.gc.ca/nats-stna/tables-tableaux-eng.htm, as of October 25, 2012.