Border crossings into Whatcom are up 16 percent. What's driving this increase?

Border traffic into Whatcom County continues to increase and gas prices could be a big reason for it.

Nearly 3 million people have traveled southbound through the five Whatcom County border crossings in the first quarter of 2018, a 16 percent increase compared to a year ago. That's also the highest first quarter total since 2015, when the Canadian dollar was hovering around 85 cents compared to the U.S. dollar at a time when the strong loonie was coming to an end. That's according to data collected by Western Washington University's Border Policy Research Institute.