Personal Vehicles Entered the United States Nearly 96 Million Times in 2012
Personal vehicles entered the United States nearly 96 million times in 2012, 33.1 million from Canada, and 62.7 million from Mexico, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics’ (BTS). Border crossings also included 10.7 million trucks, 320 thousand buses, and 37 thousand trains in 2012 (Table 1).
BTS, a part of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration, released the data as part of the ninth annual update of the North American Transportation Statistics (NATS) Online Database. A product of the North American Transportation Statistics Interchange, the NATS Online Database contains comparable transportation-related data available from the United States, Canada, and Mexico in a one-stop online resource.
The database covers the following subject areas: demographics, transportation, the economy, transportation safety, transportation’s 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, the U.S. Census Bureau, and the federal-level transportation and statistical agencies of Canada and Mexico.
The NATS Online Database includes data on trade and transportation between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. In 2012, goods valued at more than $1.11 trillion crossed the U.S. border in trade with Canada and Mexico, 5 percent higher than in 2011, and 21 percent higher than 2010 (Table 2).
Data in the NATS Online Database also show America’s top gateways for trade with Canada and Mexico.
With text available in English, French, and Spanish, the NATS Online Database can be found at https://www144.statcan.gc.ca/nats-stna/index-eng.htmx. Additionally, the NATS incorporates technical and methodological footnotes.
Table 1. 2012 Vehicle Crossings into the United States
(thousands)
| Mode | From Canada | From Mexico | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal Vehicle | 33,084 | 62,703 | 95,786 |
| Truck | 5,624 | 5,104 | 10,727 |
| Bus | 108 | 212 | 320 |
| Train | 29 | 9 | 37 |
SOURCE: North American Transportation Statistics Online Database, available at https://www144.statcan.gc.ca/nats-stna/index-eng.htm, as of Oct. 25, 2013.
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: 2007-2012
(millions of current dollars)
| Year | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | Percent change, '07 - '12 | Average Annual growth rate (%) '07 - '12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total trade with Canada and Mexico | 908,888 | 963,923 | 735,174 | 917,647 | 1,057,924 | 1,109,988 | 22.13% | 4.08% |
| Air | 37,595 | 40,805 | 39,240 | 45,083 | 45,539 | 43,999 | 17.03% | 3.20% |
| Vessel | 73,990 | 93,244 | 59,238 | 81,235 | 108,253 | 105,854 | 43.07% | 7.43% |
| Road | 554,831 | 554,434 | 454,827 | 556,884 | 625,857 | 664,739 | 19.81% | 3.68% |
| Rail | 137,859 | 140,424 | 95,624 | 131,228 | 151,852 | 167,504 | 21.50% | 3.97% |
| Pipeline | 59,306 | 87,776 | 49,205 | 62,933 | 80,727 | 77,439 | 30.58% | 5.48% |
| Total trade with Canada | 561,548 | 596,470 | 429,639 | 524,672 | 597,275 | 616,004 | 9.70% | 1.87% |
| Air | 26,087 | 27,823 | 24,352 | 26,728 | 27,985 | 27,894 | 6.93% | 1.35% |
| Vessel | 24,630 | 31,838 | 19,545 | 26,883 | 32,259 | 31,894 | 29.49% | 5.31% |
| Road | 324,747 | 319,946 | 247,623 | 296,826 | 330,655 | 341,490 | 5.16% | 1.01% |
| Rail | 91,459 | 93,194 | 61,031 | 83,112 | 94,688 | 102,982 | 12.60% | 2.40% |
| Pipeline | 58,350 | 86,332 | 48,262 | 60,713 | 76,953 | 73,804 | 26.48% | 4.81% |
| Total trade with Mexico | 347,340 | 367,453 | 305,535 | 392,975 | 460,649 | 493,984 | 42.22% | 7.30% |
| Air | 11,508 | 12,982 | 14,888 | 18,355 | 17,554 | 16,105 | 39.95% | 6.95% |
| Vessel | 49,360 | 61,406 | 39,693 | 54,352 | 75,995 | 73,960 | 49.84% | 8.42% |
| Road | 230,084 | 234,488 | 207,204 | 260,058 | 295,203 | 323,249 | 40.49% | 7.04% |
| Rail | 46,400 | 47,230 | 34,593 | 48,116 | 57,165 | 64,522 | 39.06% | 6.82% |
| Pipeline | 956 | 1,444 | 943 | 2,220 | 3,774 | 3,635 | 280.24% | 30.62% |
SOURCE: North American Transportation Statistics Online Database, available at https://www144.statcan.gc.ca/nats-stna/index-eng.htm, as of Oct. 25, 2013.
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.