El Paso, Texas - U.S. Customs and Border Protection today announced a series of improvements to the Paso Del Norte (PDN) international crossing at the El Paso port of entry designed to better delineate Ready Lanes at the facility. Signs and plastic lane markers have been installed directing Ready Lane users to lanes 11 and 12.

	click for hi-res "Ready Lane" accepts identification in the form of: U.S. Passport Card, SENTRI Card, Permanent Resident Card, and Border Crossing Card.

LED signage above the primary inspection booths also designates lanes 11 and 12 on the western side of the bridge (left side when entering the U.S. from Mexico) as the Ready Lanes. Previously, lanes 2 and 3 were designated as Ready Lanes.

“Ready Lanes have proven effective at improving throughput by 20-25 percent, which translates into shorter overall crossing times, benefiting travelers,” said Hector Mancha, CBP El Paso port director. “CBP officers are at the port distributing Ready Lane information to border crossers and directing eligible travelers to the newly designated lanes.”

Ready Lanes are designed to speed up processing for travelers that possess RFID-enabled cards such as the U.S. passport card, Trusted Traveler cards (SENTRI/NEXUS/FAST/Global Entry) and the newer versions of the resident alien and laser visa/border crossing cards. All travelers in the vehicle over 16 years of age must possess an RFID-enabled card to use the lane; however, each traveler can possess a different type of card.

CBP officers need real-time access to a traveler’s biographic and biometric data to make a rapid and thorough admissibility decision. The RFID chip in these cards can be read as the vehicle queues for inspection at the border. When a vehicle enters the RFID reader’s vicinity, the tag signals the secure database so traveler information is displayed to the CBP officer as the vehicle pulls up to the inspection booth. The CBP officer can look at the results quickly and focus on the individuals in the vehicle rather than scan documents, which improves officer safety and allows for faster processing.

In addition to PDN, Ready Lanes have also been designated and are in use at the PDN pedestrian crossing and the Bridge of the Americas and Ysleta crossing car lanes at the El Paso port of entry.