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Table E.3 indicates that while southbound traffic through Brownsville is higher
than northbound traffic, southbound truck crossings have increased by only 7%
from 1994 (204,344) to 2001 (217,731). This is a small fraction compared to
the total southbound truck crossings increase of 98% from 1994 (1,102,446) to
2001 (2,187,114). As with northbound truck crossings, Brownsville has not
captured its share of increased truck crossing traffic, and this increase has
largely been taken by Laredo (which takes over 50% of total bridge traffic in both
directions of the cities listed here). When comparing the increase in northbound
to southbound Brownsville trucking crossings it is evident that the northbound
truck crossings have increased significantly from the southbound truck
crossings. This may suggest that maquiladoras in Mexico have increased
production of products destined for U.S. and Canadian markets.
Table E.3. Truck Crossings into Mexico from Texas, 1994-2001 1
Trucks -South 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
Brownsville+ 204,344 184,848 197,617 229,788 290,746 237,189 234,121 217,731
Del Rio+ 33,622 34,529 36,670 43,579 66,186 67,788 69,468 69,770
Eagle Pass++ 40,728 34,918 39,747 44,416 50,167 81,868 108,704 92,466
Harlingen+ 57,085 35,316 44,154 42,207 64,912 74,833 71,714 42,599
Laredo++(+) 548,409 422,916 516,790 650,812 1,188,577 1,306,655 1,409,336 1,407,621
McAllen-Hidalgo+ 170,704 123,426 124,986 98,640 52,381 51,458 46,933 37,244
Pharr+ NA 30,981 56,863 114,008 180,171 206,298 256,899 258,386
Progreso+ 24,357 21,109 20,000 14,008 16,834 27,627 25,116 25,724
Rio Grande City+ 15,795 13,513 17,905 21,795 21,561 23,887 21,602 21,940
Roma+ 7,402 7,710 8,911 8,976 10,556 15,767 13,142 13,633
Total 1,102,446 909,266 1,063,643 1,268,229 1,942,091 2,093,370 2,257,035 2,187,114
Source: Texas Department of Transportation
Port of Brownsville
The Port of Brownsville opened in 1936 and is located at the southern tip of
Texas at the end of a 17-mile (27 kilometers) channel that meets the Gulf of
Mexico at the Brazos Santiago Pass. The Port, a man-made basin 4,200’ long
and varying in width from 400’ to 1,200’, is three miles north of the Rio Grande
and the Mexican border, five (5) miles east of the City of Brownsville and seven
miles from the rail and highway border crossing. 2
The Port of Brownsville is unique in that it offers its customers five modes of
transportation to and from the port:
⇒ ocean vessels
⇒ US and Mexican truck transport
⇒ US and Mexican rail service
⇒ barge service via the US Intercoastal and Inland Waterway Systems
⇒ air service
1 Source: Data provided by U.S. bridge operators in cited cities and compiled by Texas A&M Int’l
University, Texas Center for Border Economic and Enterprise Development. Notes: The symbols
indicate the following: (+) loaded and empty trucks, (++) loaded trucks and (+++) does not separate
loaded trucks from other vehicles thus not reported. Laredo++(+): 1990-97 figures denote loaded
trucks and 1998 figure denotes loaded and empty trucks. Data was unavailable for El Paso.
2001’s decrease in northbound truck crossings, and the steady decrease in southbound truck
crossings every year since it peaked in 1998, can be attributed to the slowdown in the U.S. and
Canadian economies.
2 Port of Brownsville, Web site: http://www.portofbrownsville.com/, Accessed: April 22, 2002
xiii.