Border traffic into Whatcom County up 11.5 percent so far this year

Canadian border traffic into Whatcom County has increased significantly so far in 2012.

The number of people traveling southbound through Whatcom's five border crossings (including Point Roberts) totaled more than 4.5 million in the first four months of the year, up 11.5 percent in compared to the same period in 2011, according to data gathered by Western Washington University's Center for Economics and Business Research.

Last month the number of people traveling southbound totaled more than 1.2 million, up 4.2 percent compared to April 2011.