Customs and Border Protection weekend experiment at San Ysidro Port of Entry
By Adina Moloman
Source: UT San Diego
Customs and Border Protection did an experimental exercise last weekend, by opening added lanes and inspection booths at the San Ysidro Port of Entry.
Even while the reconstruction of the port is ongoing, the exercise consisted in opening 21 vehicle lanes and 41 inspection booths during peak crossing times, it started at 7 p.m. Friday and ended at 8 a.m. Monday.
The test was to help forcast the wait times once the reconstruction of all primary inspection booths is completed and there is adequate staffing.
By 2014, when the reconstruction work should be completed there will be as many as 25 lanes and 46 booths.
Wait times during the exercise ranged from 10 to 60 minutes depending upon the time of day, compared with 200 minutes which is the average wait time on weekend days.
According to different border studies, regional development can be reached through many ways, but an important one is building border infrastructure, where in this case thousands of millions dollars are lost annually due to lengthy border waits.
In this situation a significantly reduce wait time to get back into the U.S will facilitate cross-‐border commerce and investment, and will help Mexico Manufacturers which seeks to reduce leakage of revenues.
One question remains over this intention to remedy congestion, if there is sufficient and appropriate staffing when the crossing infrastructure capacity is done.
It seems that there is not sufficient federal funding to hire enough customs officers.
The expansion and modernization of the San Ysidro Port of Entry costs $583 million, the project is scheduled in three phases, which includes adding lanes, booths and high-tech inspection equipment.
