The Port of Halifax is considering an expansion of its container terminal. The port has experienced the following container throughput during the past 12 years, expressed as TEUs (i.e., 20 feet equivalent units, a standard unit of measure for containers).

Year                                                     TEUs (1000s)

1 .............................................................. 526.1

2 .............................................................. 549.4

3 .............................................................. 606.0

4 .............................................................. 627.0

5 .............................................................. 695.7

6 .............................................................. 734.9

7 .............................................................. 761.1

8 .............................................................. 845.4

9 .............................................................. 1021.1

10 ............................................................. 1137.1

11 ............................................................. 1173.6

12 ............................................................. 1233.4

a. Develop a linear trend line forecast for these data and fore-cast the number of TEUs for the next year.
b. How strong is the linear relationship for these data?