Tecate border crossing set for nine-week Ready Lane pilot
Fri, 2012-06-29
By: Mark Rockwell
"Travelers with RFID-enabled documents will be able to use a commercial Ready Lane at the Tecate Port of Entry near San Diego on the California/Mexico
border on weekends to speed their entry into the U.S.
Customs and Border Protection is set to launch a pilot Ready Lane program at the port of entry on July 1 for general vehicle traffic entering the
country to see if it will be an effective way to manage travel through the crossing, said CBP on June 27.
The pilot program begins on July 1 and ends Aug. 26, CBP said, with the Ready Lane open on Sundays from 12 p.m. until 8 p.m.
Currently on the weekends, CBP officials at the Tecate crossing already use the commercial facility to process general traffic when volume dictates,
allowing them to expand from two traffic lanes and inspection booths to up to four traffic lanes and inspection booths, said CBP.
During the test period, CBP officials will continue to use the commercial facility in this manner and will use the far left lane on the approach from
the Mexican side of the border crossing for Ready Lane traffic.
According to CBP, travelers are eligible to use the Ready Lane if they have a travel document enabled with Radio Frequency Identification, or RFID,
technology. In order to use the Ready Lane, all adult passengers in the vehicle over the age of 16 have to present an approved travel card. The U.S.
Passport Card, SENTRI card, the new Legal Permanent Resident "green card" and the new Border Crossing Card are all RFID-enabled documents, it said.
CBP said its officials have been coordinating with officials from Tecate, Mexico, to prepare for this pilot program, with coordination from Mexican
officials essential in establishing the approach in Mexico for the Ready Lane.
When approaching the Tecate border crossing in Mexico following typical travel patterns, said CBP, travelers will see signs for Ready Lane access
about a third of a mile from the port of entry, and should have their RFID-enabled travel documents available in order to enter the Ready Lane
approach lanes in Mexico."
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow mindedness.”
—Mark Twain
\"La vida es dura, el corazon es puro, y cantamos hasta la madrugada.” (Life is hard, the heart is pure and we sing until dawn.)
—Kirsty MacColl, Mambo de la Luna
\"Alea iacta est.\"
—Julius Caesar
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