Freight Knows No Bounds: The Issue of Cross-Border Metropolitan Areas and the Accuracy of Freight Activity Data

Data from the Commodity Flow Survey (CFS) of the United States is a helpful tool for understanding metropolitan-level freight movement. The survey data provide information not readily available elsewhere, such as dollar value of shipments by commodity. Further, as a Bureau of Census product, the data are widely recognized as legitimate, giving analysis using the data credibility. CFS data, though collected on a very detailed geographic level, is richest at the national level. As one moves toward the metropolitan areas, data availability begins to limit the usefulness of the CFS. Often, when cell sizes are small, data are suppressed. Further, data released by the Census breaks metropolitan areas on state boundaries and ignores economic realities. Thus the issue of cross-border metropolitan areas is created and the accuracy of freight activity data for cross-border metropolitan areas is in question.