New border-crossing cards to improve, speed-up security process

I would estimate that the NEXUS system has saved me personally from over 100 hours of border line ups in my car, waiting in line to pay Customs Duties & Taxes and bypassing long security line ups at the airport.

I tell everyone I know to Get NEXUS! It saves so much time. So, I was happy to hear that they are improving the cards and the processing at the borders. I have found that because so many people are signing up for the program - there are many more cars in the NEXUS lane, and that means longer lines. However, they are still much shorter than the regular lanes and from what I understand - the newer facilities being built will have multiple NEXUS lanes rather than just one.

Here is the full article -

New border-crossing cards to improve, speed-up security process
Craig Pearson, Canwest News Service
Published: Wednesday, July 23, 2008
WINDSOR, Ont. - NEXUS border-crossing cards are changing to improve security, though a U.S. government official says the changes also should help speed the process.

Sometime in the fall, current NEXUS cards - in use for five years to help regular commuters move quickly across the border - will be swapped for second-generation NEXUS cards.

Chief Ron Smith of U.S. Customs and Border Protection said the new cards will be issued in conjunction with the introduction of new card readers that improve the radio-frequency-identification-device technology, which can read nearby cards without having to swipe them.

The chip in the old NEXUS cards sent information 15 feet (4.5 metres). The new card will send it only 10 feet (three metres), which lessens the chance someone can intercept the information. As well, the new cards are harder to counterfeit or to alter.

The new U.S. card readers can also handle more information, making them faster.

With the previous system, the card readers could only identify one or two people at the same time. With the updated system, the readers will be able to identify four NEXUS commuters in one car, at once.

"It's an all-around better system," Smith said. "It should also help us increase our NEXUS usage."

About 355,000 people currently hold NEXUS cards. Both Canadian and American officials hope that number will climb significantly, since NEXUS cardholders typically cross land borders with less delay than those using other government-issued ID.

Smith also noted that the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative will require all Canadians and Americans to use passports to enter the United States, including through land borders, starting June 1, 2009. "NEXUS cards can be used as a passport at the border," Smith said. "It's simple."

NEXUS is a partnership program between the Canada Border Services Agency and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.




© Windsor Star 2008