BTS Releases North American Transportation Statistics; Personal Vehicles Entered the United States Nearly 96 Million Times in 2012

BTS 53-13

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Contact: Dave Smallen

Tel: 202-366-5568      

 

BTS Releases North American Transportation Statistics;

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 http://www.sct.gob.mx/nats. Additionally, the NATS incorporates technical and methodological footnotes.

 

 

 

Table 1. Vehicle Crossings into the United States: 2012

(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 http://www.sct.gob.mx/nats 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

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%

(millions of current dollars)

 

SOURCE: North American Transportation Statistics Online Database, available at http://www.sct.gob.mx/nats 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.