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Live · 6:15 pm Pacific, Friday 4 September

Border wait times right now

As of 6:15 pm Pacific, Friday 4 September, Vancouver604 reports for the border crossings: Let's check the border. Heading south into the US, U.S. Customs and Border Protection has the Peace Arch sitting at a light 5 minute wait as of 6 PM. Over at Pacific Highway, the truck crossing, U.S. Customs is showing no wait at all right now, also as of 6 PM. And down at Aldergrove, U.S. Customs clocks it at 15 minutes as of that same 6 PM check. C.B.S.A. says it's a different story coming back into Canada, with a 30 minute wait at the Peace Arch while Pacific Highway and Aldergrove stay light.

The current report

Let's check the border. Heading south into the US, U.S. Customs and Border Protection has the Peace Arch sitting at a light 5 minute wait as of 6 PM. Over at Pacific Highway, the truck crossing, U.S. Customs is showing no wait at all right now, also as of 6 PM. And down at Aldergrove, U.S. Customs clocks it at 15 minutes as of that same 6 PM check. C.B.S.A. says it's a different story coming back into Canada, with a 30 minute wait at the Peace Arch while Pacific Highway and Aldergrove stay light.

The player carries the whole station, every zone, in the order it airs.

The five crossings

Peace Arch, Highway 99 at Douglas. Open 24 hours, cars only, the most booths and the shortest wait most of the day. It is the one that backs up first on a long weekend and the one a cruise ship turnaround fills.

Pacific Highway, Highway 15 at 176th Street. Open 24 hours, cars and trucks in separate lines, and the commercial crossing for the region. The car line here is frequently shorter than the Peace Arch and almost nobody switches, which is the single most useful thing on this page.

Aldergrove, Highway 13 at 264th Street. Open 8am to midnight, cars only, no NEXUS lane. Further east than most drivers want to go, which is why it stays short.

Abbotsford-Huntingdon, Highway 11 south of Abbotsford. Open 8am to midnight, cars and trucks. It serves the valley rather than the city and is the natural crossing from Chilliwack and Mission.

Point Roberts, at the end of Tsawwassen. Open 24 hours. It is a crossing into an American exclave rather than a route anywhere, so its line is short and its traffic is local.

Which one to take

The honest rule of thumb: take the Peace Arch when the report says it is moving, because it has the most booths and the shortest approach. Switch to Pacific Highway the moment the Peace Arch queue is past the duty-free, because the car line there is usually shorter and the drive between the two is ten minutes. Go to Aldergrove only when both are long, and count the extra half hour of driving against the wait you are avoiding. If you hold NEXUS, the Peace Arch is almost always right.

Questions

Which crossing is fastest right now?

Read the report above: it names the crossings the station is watching and says which are moving. As a rule of thumb, the Peace Arch is fastest for cars outside peak times because it has the most booths, and the Pacific Highway is faster whenever the Peace Arch is backed past the duty-free, because most drivers do not switch. If both are long, Aldergrove is usually shorter and always further.

What are the hours?

The Peace Arch and Pacific Highway are open 24 hours. Aldergrove is open 8am to midnight. Abbotsford-Huntingdon is open 8am to midnight. Point Roberts is open 24 hours. Hours are set by the two governments and can change; the crossing's own agency is the authority.

Which crossing takes trucks?

Pacific Highway is the commercial crossing on Highway 15 and handles the freight. Abbotsford-Huntingdon takes commercial traffic on Highway 11. The Peace Arch takes no trucks at all, which is why its line is only cars and why it moves differently.

Does NEXUS help?

Yes, at the Peace Arch and Pacific Highway, which both have dedicated NEXUS lanes, and the saving is largest exactly when the general line is worst. Aldergrove and Abbotsford-Huntingdon have no NEXUS lane. A NEXUS card holder must have every passenger in the car enrolled to use the lane.

Is this an official source?

No. Vancouver604 is a community information service. The official wait times come from U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Canada Border Services Agency, and the station reads what they publish alongside what drivers report. In an emergency call 911.

Roads to the border

Highway 99, Delta to the border · The Pacific Highway · Surrey / White Rock / Langley

Vancouver604 is a free, spoken, real-time traffic report for Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley and the Sea-to-Sky, refreshed every 15 minutes from driver reports and public road feeds, produced in Vancouver by Temper Tantrum Studios Inc. The text above is the broadcast script, unedited. Vancouver604 is not affiliated with the Canada Border Services Agency or U.S. Customs and Border Protection.