Crossing the border

We chose to enter Canada through Pacific Highway border crossing via SR543. We arrived there around 10:30 am, and the queue to cross was quite short, with two cars waiting in the line. The waiting time was only several minutes. When it was our turn, a border guard collected our passports, and Form I-20 from Felipe and Wenjuan, who are non-American citizens. After knowing our nationality, she asked a lot of questions such as why we are traveling together, and what the trip purpose is. Luckily it didn’t take long for us to get passed the checkpoint.

At Saturday noon, we chose to depart Canada through Peace Arch border crossing via Highway 99. Surprisingly the border was very congested at 1:00 pm, Saturday afternoon, and the length of queue at Peace Arch exceeded one kilometer. The dynamic traffic display board showed that the estimated border crossing time at Peace Arch is 90 minutes, while the estimated crossing time at Pacific Highway is 80 minutes. Following the no-idling sign, we turned off our engine during waiting. But we still saw many cars running their engines. Using this waiting time, we relaxed in the Park and explored the duty free store. Near the front of queue, we saw traffic signs controlling the anti-idle system. They provide a countdown during the last two minutes or so, giving driver’s time to regroup and prepare to start their engines. Finally we entered the checkpoint and chatted with a border guard. He examined our passports, I-20 Forms, and let us go quickly.

CBSA Pacific Highway Border Tour

After meeting with Hugh and Melissa in Bellingham to talk about the IMTC, we arrived at the Pacific Highway commercial border crossing via SR 543 (BC 15 from the opposite direction). The queue to cross was thankfully short and, after inspecting some exotic seized contraband in the lobby, we headed over to the freight office where we were given a brief yet informative tour by a not-to-be identified Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) agent. The basics of the border were explained, including the processes by which carriers and shippers comply with import regulations and how commercial vehicles physically pass through the border. We also learned processes and priorities in CBSA's efforts to enforce border security, both through discussion and a visit to a secondary inspection warehouse where thorough inspections of selected vehicles and their contents are made. After a brief Q&A session, it was time to move on to our next appointment.

Riding the Sky Train

From our hotel (near BC Place Stadium), we were able to utilize Vancouver’s Sky Train to get to our meeting at TransLink (who happen to manage the Sky Train, along with Vancouver’s other public transit systems). We boarded at the Stadium/Chinatown station and rode the Metro Line to Metrotown in Burnaby, a large suburb of Vancouver. According to the TransLink website, the journey took 14 minutes, but many of us took quick catnaps, so we seemed to be there in no time at all! The Metrotown station is adjacent to a shopping mall and several office towers (including the one where the TransLink offices are located). There were also connections to several bus lines from the station.

After our meeting at TransLink, we took the Sky Train back into Vancouver, with Anne getting off along the way to catch an Amtrak train back to Seattle, and made the easy walk back to our hotel. As a bonus, our return Sky Train tickets were valid for 2 hours, allowing us to take a bus down to English Bay to enjoy the sunny afternoon along the water!

Vancouver Trip overview

Matt found a grant by the Canadian government to encourage interaction between Canada and other countries. He applied for it and received funding to support a comparative tour of two different border regions at the US-Canada border. We just completed the first trip, traveling up to Vancouver and its surrounding region.

Here was our itinerary:

1. Meet with Hugh Conroy & Melissa Miller at Whatcom Council of Governments to learn about Whatcom COG and the International Mobility and Trade Corridor Project.
2. Cross the Border at PacHighway
3. Tour the Pacific Highway Border Crossing with the Canadian Border Services Agency
4. Meet with Mirjana Petrovic at the City of Surrey
5. Ride the SkyTrain
6. Meet with Keenan Kitasaka at TransLink
7. Cross the Border at Peace Arch

Amidst these meetings, we ate delicious food, saw beautiful mountains, and enjoyed amazing weather. We will post details about our various activities over the next week or so. Stay tuned!

Welcome to the GMC @ UW

We will be using this blog to post about our activities, share our pictures, and update you on our research.

We just returned from a trip to Vancouver and the Cascades Gateway region of the US-Canada border where we learned about some of the different organizational and physical structures of border and regional organizations.

We will post some pictures and thoughts soon.