COVID-19 Impacts on Cascade Gateway
An analysis of impacts on freight and a subsequent look at traffic volume changes were both completed during the 2020-2021 COVID-19 pandemic.
Project status: Completed
Impacts on Cascade Gateway Freight
Location
Historical data was analyzed for all Cascade Gateway ports-of-entry. Deeper analysis was focused on the Pacific Highway Port-of-Entry.
Why this project was needed
Since mid-March 2020, and certainly following the designation of COVID-19 as a global pandemic on March 21 of that year, Canada-U.S. border restrictions and responsive policies impacted operations. With federally declared limitations on cross-border travel to essential trips only, cross-border passenger vehicle traffic fell off dramatically to about three percent of typical volumes in the Cascade Gateway. Cross-border trade has been allowed to flow as normally as possible. COVID-related policies for land-border trade are applied to matters such as driver health screening and observation. This report focuses primarily on COVID-19 impacts on regional cross-border trade, and considers structural changes, if any, that could affect the long-term outlook and performance of the Cascade Gateway system.
Results
Presented in the report, this project’s findings include:
A conclusion that observed fluctuations in commodity flow (by trade value) were related mostly to COVID-19 rather than other factors or seasonality.
Commodity specific trend summaries that quantify and visualize COVID-19 effects on trade value (observable decreases and increases depending on market sector).
Regional estimates of commodity-value to truck estimates — for application to subsequent scenario development.
Scenarios of how COVID-19 influences on regional cross-border truck trade may continue indefinitely or fade depending on market sector, commodity type, etc.
Recommendations for data improvements.
Project funding
Transport Canada provided funding for this analysis ($22,000 CAD). The total cost of the study was $17,400 (USD).
Passenger vehicle analysis
During the global COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, restrictions on passenger vehicle travel across the U.S. - Canada border significantly impacted the region. This analysis was completed to examine how vehicle volumes across the border shifted during this period.
Results
Comparisons of daily cross-border traffic volume between and 2021 are show in the two dashboards below.
For more information
Contact Hugh Conroy, Director, Whatcom Council of Governments by email or phone (360-685-8382).