NAFTA, which was agreed to by Canada, Mexico, and the United States in 1992 and implemented in the United States through legislation in 1993, contained a timetable for the phased removal of trade barriers for goods and services among the three countries. Beginning on January 1, 1997, Mexican passenger carriers that own and operate commercial buses and vans were to have been permitted to apply for the authority to provide scheduled service between Mexico and the United States. However, this increased access has not occurred because U.S.-Mexico negotiations concerning commercial motor vehicle safety measures to be implemented by Mexico have not been completed. In contrast, the U.S.-Canada border has been open to commercial passenger vehicles for many years. Until expanded access is granted, only commercial passenger vehicles from Mexico that are engaged in tour and charter service may travel beyond the U.S. commercial zones along the border (generally areas between 3 and 20 miles from the U.S. border towns’ northern limits, depending on each town’s population). As of May 1997, only seven Mexican companies had received FHWA operating authority to provide tour and charter services beyond the commercial zones. However, these and other Mexican commercial passenger vehicles may operate to any destination within the commercial zones. Commercial passenger vehicles entering the United States from Mexico include motor coaches, minibuses, school-bus-type vehicles, and vans (see fig. 1). Although there are 29 locations where commercial passenger vehicles from Mexico may enter the United States, about 85 percent of the commercial passenger vehicles enter at 4 major crossings: 2 in California (San Diego and Otay Mesa) and 2 in Texas (Hidalgo and Laredo). (See fig. 2.) Commercial passenger vehicles enter the United States through the U.S. Customs Service’s passenger vehicle ports of entry, which are physically separate from the crossings that commercial trucks use to enter the United States. Customs usually has one lane of passenger vehicle traffic dedicated to commercial passenger vehicles, which facilitates the processing of passengers through both the Customs and Immigration and Naturalization Service inspection points. To encourage safer commercial motor vehicle operation in the United States and to help achieve uniformity in commercial motor vehicle standards throughout the nation, FHWA has issued regulations on vehicle safety standards (e.g., tires, lights, brakes) and financial and operating standards (e.g., registration, insurance, commercial driver’s license, and hours of service requirements). FHWA’s safety regulations on commercial motor vehicles apply to, among other things, all vehicles designed to transport more than 15 passengers, including the driver, that operate within the United States. For the most part, the states have adopted the federal standards. FHWA maintains a presence in all states to promote commercial vehicle safety and ensures that state laws and regulations are compatible with federal commercial vehicle safety regulations. FHWA also provides policy direction and supports state-developed enforcement strategies through a motor carrier safety grant program. Although each commercial vehicle involved in interstate commerce on U.S. roads must meet all federal vehicle, operator, and financial standards, Canada, Mexico, and the United States have adopted roadside inspection procedures that focus on the most critical safety items. These inspection procedures, developed by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA),focus on those standards that, if not met, would lead to a commercial vehicle being placed out of service for serious safety violations. FHWA and state safety inspectors use these procedures when inspecting commercial passenger vehicles entering the United States from Mexico. Commercial passenger vehicles that are placed out of service are halted until needed repairs are made. Safety inspectors who are qualified to conduct inspections of commercial trucks are also qualified to inspect commercial passenger vehicles. There are two CVSA procedures that have been used to inspect commercial passenger vehicles entering the United States from Mexico: level-1 and level-2 inspections. The level-1 inspection is the most rigorous—a full inspection of both the driver and the vehicle. The driver inspection includes ensuring that the driver has a valid commercial driver’s license, is medically qualified, and has an updated log showing the driver’s hours of service. The vehicle inspection includes a visual inspection and an extensive undercarriage inspection that covers the brakes, frame, and suspension. The level-2 inspection is similar to the level-1 inspection, except that it does not include an extensive undercarriage inspection. Customs data show that, from June 1996 through May 1997 (the latest data available), there were an average of about 598 northbound commercial passenger vehicle crossings each day along the U.S.-Mexico border (see table 1). However, counting practices vary somewhat among the ports of entry and, as a result, the traffic levels reported by Customs are understated by an unknown amount. At the San Diego and Otay Mesa, California, crossings, all commercial passenger vehicles, regardless of the vehicle capacity, are funneled through a single lane for commercial passenger vehicles. However, in Texas, Customs agents require commercial vans to use the lanes provided for private passenger vehicles. They told us that they do not always attempt to determine whether the vans are commercial or private passenger vans, which results in some commercial vans being counted as private passenger vehicles. Customs officials in Texas told us that the traffic counts are used primarily to determine the level of staffing that is needed at each crossing point. They also told us that they permit commercial passenger vans to enter the United States through private passenger lanes because, given their smaller size, the vans do not require as much inspection as motor coaches do. Also, according to a Customs official, it is difficult for Customs agents to identify whether some vans are carrying paying passengers or private passengers. While Customs records the number of crossings, it does not keep records on the number or type of individual commercial passenger vehicles that cross the border. Customs, FHWA, and state officials told us that they believe that most of the northbound cross-border commercial passenger traffic is of a repeat nature, such as airport and shopping center shuttle services. Thus, while Customs’ records show an average of 598 crossings daily, the number of individual commercial vehicles is smaller, but, again, to an unknown degree. In California, federal and state officials told us that most traffic at the San Diego crossing consists of motor coaches and school-bus-type vehicles providing shuttle service to destinations such as bus terminals, grocery stores, and parking lots just inside the U.S. border. Federal officials stated that few commercial vans enter the country at the San Diego crossing. Rather, most vans, such as those providing shuttle service to the San Diego airport, enter at the Otay Mesa crossing. Officials told us that some commercial passenger vehicles at both crossings may enter the United States up to 10 times a day. In Texas, federal officials told us that most of the Laredo cross-border traffic consists of U.S.-based carriers providing scheduled service to Dallas and Houston. A Customs official in Laredo estimated that while only 4 or 5 commercial passenger vans cross the border on weekdays, approximately 50 or 60 vans cross the border during the weekend. According to one Customs official, most commercial passenger vehicles at the Hidalgo, Texas, crossing are motor coaches; an estimated 90 percent of these vehicles travel to destinations within the commercial zone to the nearby border city of McAllen. Relatively few safety inspections of commercial passenger vehicles have taken place in the past year. FHWA inspectors in Texas and state inspectors in California conducted border safety inspections of 528 commercial passenger vehicles from January through May 1997 out of an estimated 90,000 border crossings during that period. (Because many commercial passenger vehicles may enter the United States several times a day, inspectors would not typically inspect the same vehicle each time it crossed the border.) About 22 percent of the vehicles inspected were placed out of service. Some of these were vehicles owned and operated by U.S. carriers. In comparison, the out-of-service rate for the 10,000 U.S. commercial passenger vehicles inspected on the nation’s roads from October 1996 through June 1997 was about 10 percent. FHWA inspectors in California and state inspectors in Texas had not conducted any inspections as of May 1997. The dearth of safety inspections, coupled with insufficient information on the number and kinds of Mexican commercial passenger vehicles entering the United States, precludes any assessment of whether these commercial passenger vehicles are safe and are being operated safely. FHWA and state officials told us that because many more commercial trucks enter the United States from Mexico than do commercial passenger vehicles, they spend most of their time inspecting commercial trucks. About 12,000 commercial truck crossings occur along the border each day compared with about 598 commercial passenger vehicle crossings (a 20-to-1 ratio). Moreover, about 45 percent of the 25,000 trucks inspected upon entering the United States from Mexico were placed out of service for serious safety violations in calendar year 1996. FHWA is not conducting safety inspections of commercial passenger vehicles entering California from Mexico. According to an FHWA official in California, the two federal inspectors assigned to the California border are focusing all of their inspection efforts on the commercial trucks entering the United States from Mexico because (1) these trucks continue to display serious violations of insurance and operating authority requirements and (2) congestion at the border crossings does not allow adequate space for vehicle inspections to be conducted. California state safety inspections of commercial passenger vehicles entering the United States from Mexico have been limited to two 1-day strike force efforts (see fig. 3). In total, the California Highway Patrol conducted level-1 inspections of 144 vehicles and placed 37 (26 percent) vehicles out of service for serious safety violations, such as steering or brake problems. During the first strike force effort on April 20, 1997, safety inspectors inspected vehicles near the passenger vehicle border crossings at San Diego and Otay Mesa.