BajaNomad

Cross impossible

huesos - 12-21-2013 at 05:30 PM

The Christmas shopping traffic is making a North bound crossing too much to deal with. Will this load drop off after Christmas or does it hold thru the 1st?

tjsue - 12-21-2013 at 09:00 PM

I'm told that it should die down after the first week in January.

BajaBlanca - 12-21-2013 at 09:03 PM

Visit a doc or dentist and they can give you a pass which 4 days ago got us thru in record time, 15 minutes!

tjsue - 12-22-2013 at 06:36 AM

If you're driving, and leave very early in the morning you can get across in about an hour. When I have to drive to San Diego, I leave between 4-4:30am. When I walk, I can leave later. Today I'm working the Chargers/Raiders game, so I'm crossing on foot and can leave later.

dasubergeek - 12-23-2013 at 12:07 AM

I'll just point out that the wait time was 20 minutes at 7 p.m. today, Sunday, and is currently still 20 minutes. Apparently—from another post—they turned up six new lanes (theoretically 12 new booths).

tjsue - 12-23-2013 at 11:07 AM

Your 20 minute wait time must have been with a Sentri pass.

huesos - 12-23-2013 at 04:40 PM

20 minutes does seem unbelievable but there have been some lanes to the left under construction.

Otay

bajaguy - 12-23-2013 at 08:54 PM

24 minutes today at Otay Sentri.....that included 22 minutes in Secondary for a "Random SENTRI Screening"

tjsue - 12-24-2013 at 01:37 PM

I've never gotten across in less than an hour. The most time it's taken has been four hours, the least has been one hour.

dasubergeek - 12-24-2013 at 03:40 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by dasubergeek
I'll just point out that the wait time was 20 minutes at 7 p.m. today, Sunday, and is currently still 20 minutes. Apparently—from another post—they turned up six new lanes (theoretically 12 new booths).


No, that was the regular lane—insane and hard to believe, I know, but true, and not the BS CBP "reporting" site either. I can't use SENTRI at the moment because I'm waiting for the half-dead snail that ferries information from the GOES site to the CBP to arrive with news of my new truck, and I had a passport book holder with me, so no Ready Lane either.

It's Christmas Eve at 14:41 and the CBP site reports 30 minutes in the regular lane at SY, which means 45, and 10 minutes at Otay (no delay for Ready Lane).

[Edited on 12-24-2013 by dasubergeek]

EnsenadaDr - 12-24-2013 at 04:12 PM

Guaranteed it will be easy to cross tomorrow morning.

CBP site

huesos - 12-24-2013 at 04:13 PM

How can I find this site that reports traffic load at the crossing?

Site for all US border crossing times

durrelllrobert - 12-24-2013 at 05:20 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by huesos
How can I find this site that reports traffic load at the crossing?



http://apps.cbp.gov/bwt/

durrelllrobert - 12-24-2013 at 05:36 PM

http://apps.cbp.gov/bwt/ is showing the following:

Otay crossing as of 4:00PM PST
Regular lanes ((3 open) 10 minutes
Ready Lanes (4 open) no delay
Sentri Lanes (1 open) no delay

San Ysidro crossing as of 3:PM PST
Regular lanes (7 open) no delay
Ready lanes (11 open) no delay
Sentri lanes (5 open) no delay

Tecate crossing as of 2:00 PM PST
Regular lanes (2 lanes open) 15 minutes
Ready lanes N?A
Sentri lanes N/A

[Edited on 12-25-2013 by durrelllrobert]

It's The Season

Gypsy Jan - 12-24-2013 at 06:12 PM

Hubby crossed the border north two days ago in the early morning, using the Readi Lane at Otay.

He said that it took three-and-a-half hours.

tjsue - 12-24-2013 at 09:34 PM

The app isn't accurate.

It was reporting a 20 minute crossing time in the regular lanes on Sunday morning. That was at 6am when I was in a taxi going to the border to cross on foot, but traffic was backed up leading to the ramp going to Revolucion. If I had driven, and left at 6, I would never have gotten to work.

Thursday I'm leaving at 4am to cross driving, and don't have to be at work until 2:30.

huesos - 12-25-2013 at 01:17 PM

to say that the app is not accurate is an understatement. Do the officials think that they are fooling anyone? The reported twenty minutes was a five hour ordeal. What a joke.

tjsue - 12-25-2013 at 01:24 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by huesos
to say that the app is not accurate is an understatement. Do the officials think that they are fooling anyone? The reported twenty minutes was a five hour ordeal. What a joke.


I don't know who developed the app, but it's a big waste of time. I know how long it going to take to cross, depending on how backed up the traffic is. If I get right on Revoluction, it takes an hour to an hour and a half.

If I'm denied a Sentri again, I'm going to move back to San Diego and look for a roommate. I'm not going to keep battling those lines. When I finally get across the border, after leaving at 4am, I have to find ways to waste time until I have to be at work.

The app is actually very accurate

durrelllrobert - 12-26-2013 at 09:42 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by huesos
to say that the app is not accurate is an understatement. Do the officials think that they are fooling anyone? The reported twenty minutes was a five hour ordeal. What a joke.


...however the 20 minutes doesn't start until you reach the first alto light at the gate. The CBP can actually process 5 cars/ hour from that point on. Time passes quickly when you're having fun like they are.

tjsue - 12-27-2013 at 01:32 PM

It took 20 minutes to cross in the regular lanes yesterday morning. I left at 4:45am, and was across the border before 5:15am. I had a lot of time to kill before having to be at work at 2:30. I took my laundry with me, and the Laundromat didn't open until 7, so I sat in my van and paid bills on my phone.

After that I picked up my mail, then went to Fashion Valley to waste more time.

EnsenadaDr - 12-27-2013 at 02:10 PM

Yes like I said before it's no fun living in TJ and having to cross the border to work.
Quote:
Originally posted by tjsue
It took 20 minutes to cross in the regular lanes yesterday morning. I left at 4:45am, and was across the border before 5:15am. I had a lot of time to kill before having to be at work at 2:30. I took my laundry with me, and the Laundromat didn't open until 7, so I sat in my van and paid bills on my phone.

After that I picked up my mail, then went to Fashion Valley to waste more time.

tjsue - 12-27-2013 at 03:31 PM

I have to leave at those early times because I don't have a Sentri. Hopefully, I will have one soon, though. But they finally stopped sending me to secondary every time I cross, so my letters must have reached someone.