Border traffic increase in Blaine an outlier among crossings

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — Border crossings in the Blaine region were the only ones along the Canada/US border to show an increase in traffic over a 6 year period, according to data from a Washington state research organization.

A recent report from the Border Policy Research Institute at Western Washington University in Bellingham shows that between 2010 and 2016, Blaine was the only region that showed growth in passenger traffic.

“The Olympics really jumpstarted this border crossing again, and then we had a very strong Canadian dollar, so we saw that curve rise up,” Laurie Trautman with the institute said.

In 2013, the trend line dipped slightly down, but overall, the traffic trend in the period was still higher than elsewhere.

While the Olympics brought a lot of attention to the border, a growing population in the Lower Mainland also contributed, Trautman said.

Also growing in our region is use of the NEXUS program, which allows certain travellers to avoid sometimes long lines.

“We do have the highest enrollment of NEXUS members in this region, BC and Washington state, than anywhere else.”

NAFTA Impacts

Trautman also talked about the more localized impacts of the NAFTA renegotiation as talks continue.

She says some provisions of the agreement provide for visas, which let people move between jobs in companies that straddle the border.

“There’s the Trade NAFTA visa, and there are several other categories that are fairly highly utilized in this region, especially for people moving between Vancouver and Seattle.”

An end to those provisions could bring passenger traffic at the border down, she said, and could impact commercial traffic as well.

But she says the biggest commercial impact would likely be the Detroit/Windsor crossing, which relies heavily on auto manufacturing trade.