Reality Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Dan Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Seeing the cars stacked up at the Blaine
> crossing point reinforces how nice it is to
> > take the train.
>
> Imagine how much faster the I-5 auto crossing
> would be, if you were required to submit all your
> identification information two weeks in advance of
> your crossing. Yeah, that's why the train is
> faster - they ALREADY have your information
> (Amtrak gave it to them). Just like at an airpor,
> they know you're there. In a car, they don't, so
> they have to run everything through the computer
> right then and there. On the train, they know who
> they want to pull off the train long before the
> train got to the border.

So if the Border people on I-5 wanted to speed things up, they would set up By Reservation Only lanes where you are pre-checked and issued a time block for arrival. That would require spending some money, possibly on an extra lane, though, so life will go on as-is.

Of course, my last experience crossing the border there was for Expo 86, and the total delay back then was less than getting through the GGB toll plaza. Biggest delay on that trip was coming home, when we were stuck on the dock in Port Angeles for the better part of an hour behind somebody that was required to empty the car for, effectively, a strip search. Oh well, didn't delay the boat; it simply unloaded everybody to the dock, loaded up the returning traffic, and left.