At the Border

Updates below.
 Unusually for me, I've been back and forth across the border quite a bit over the past week since the new Nexus hours went into effect at the Canadian crossing here in Point Roberts.  Down in Bellingham a couple of times, up to the Vancouver airport returning children/grandchildren to the U.S. via Canada, and even a thrift shop, grocery, and laundromat visit to Tsawwassen.

We've been crossing at a variety of times, but the morning lines for the regular lane into Canada still look to be pretty long most days despite the new Nexus hours, although this morning at 9 a.m., it was minimal.  This afternoon, lots of waiting in both the Nexus and the regular lanes (both of them).  Our last two trips have had us choosing the regular lane (with two lanes operating) rather than the Nexus with one, and in both cases, the regular lane got us through faster, although not a lot faster.  I really would just like to cross the border and not have to try to game the system or even think about how to time it.  Twenty years from now will it be any better?

Down at Peace Arch, Nexus has been fine, but the waits to get into the U.S.  in the morning (ca. 9-10 a.m.) in the regular lanes were truly awful.  Somewhat ominously, the signs that describe the wait time at this crossing now say only "Wait time at Peace Arch: No Available Information" and "Wait time at Truck Crossing: N/A".  It's not a confidence building sign.  Probably they'd be better served by just turning off that sign.

Well, it's summer and the waits are long.  And not only is it summer, but it's B.C. Day weekend, so there are a lot of people moving across the Point Roberts border for weekend vacations, U.S. mail, U.S. gasoline, and--at least to judge from the emptiness of the International Market shelves--U.S. food.  If I were a Canadian, I'm not sure that I could legitimately claim that the Canadian border agency has a duty to make it faster for me to get back from Point Roberts for the latter three of those visits.  But if I were a Canadian coming down here, I'd sure think hard about getting a Nexus card.

A reader writes that AM 730 gives border and tunnel wait status reports every few minutes.  A second reader speaks up for AM 1130 and its every ten minute reports 'on the ones,' which I take it means at 01, 11, 21, etc. minutes past the hour.  And, finally, there is this Washington state DOT report on northbound border crossing waits at
http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/small/BorderWaitTimes/Blaine.aspx
which is formatted for mobile phones.