How is borderwatch different from other border wait time sites?

Borderwatch predicts wait 30/60/90 minutes ahead and ranks all four Cascade Gateway crossings against each other, instead of only showing a live camera image or a single raw number per crossing.

What is the best border crossing between Seattle and Vancouver?

It depends on the time of day and which way you're going -- Peace Arch, Pacific Highway, Lynden/Aldergrove, and Sumas are the four Cascade Gateway crossings between Washington and British Columbia on the Seattle-Vancouver corridor, and the fastest one changes throughout the day as traffic shifts between them. Borderwatch ranks all four by predicted wait so you don't have to guess.

How do I choose which US-Canada border crossing to use?

Weigh the 30/60/90-minute forecast more heavily than the current wait if you're not leaving immediately -- a crossing that's backed up right now may already be draining, and one that looks clear can fill up by the time you arrive. Also check the other crossings' current wait: drivers divert between them, so a spike at Peace Arch often predicts a spike at Pacific Highway 30 minutes later.

Which Border Crossing Should I Take Southbound? — WA–BC / Seattle–Vancouver Wait Times

Predicted general-lane border wait times in minutes, southbound, for Peace Arch, Pacific Highway, Lynden/Aldergrove, and Sumas, at 30/60/90 minutes from now.
crossing	now	in 30m typical error 6m	in 60m typical error 8m	in 90m typical error 9m
peace arch	<5m	0m	1m	1m
lynden	1m	1m	0m	0m
pacific highway	<5m	1m	1m	2m
sumas	20m	11m	6m	4m

live sources

Live, unreconciled border wait times in minutes reported directly by CBP, WSDOT, and CGDW for each crossing, southbound, general lane.
crossing	CBP	CGDW
peace arch	5m 3m ago	0m 13m ago
lynden	—	1m 13m ago
pacific highway	5m 3m ago	0m 13m ago
sumas	—	20m 13m ago

how this works

Borderwatch answers "which border crossing should I take": it predicts wait at Peace Arch, Pacific Highway, Lynden/Aldergrove, and Sumas 30/60/90 minutes out and ranks all four against each other, instead of leaving you to compare live camera images or a raw number per crossing yourself.

Predictions come from a LightGBM model trained on CGDW's 5-minute-resolution archive (2023–present) for all four Cascade Gateway crossings, using time of day, day of week, US and Canadian holidays, school breaks, each crossing's recent trend, and cross-crossing diversion patterns (a busy Peace Arch predicts a busier Pacific Highway soon after, since drivers divert) as inputs. "Now" values come directly from CBP, WSDOT, and CGDW's live feeds.

Typical error is 6–8 minutes depending on horizon, worse at hours flagged above (empirically Saturday afternoon/evening and Sunday evening are hardest to predict). This is a predictive estimate from a hobby project, not an official source.

frequently asked questions

Which border crossing should I take southbound right now?: Peace Arch or Pacific Highway or Lynden, currently reporting about <5m wait, as of 1:30 PM PDT on Fri, Oct 30.
Which border crossing should I take southbound if I leave in 30 min?: Peace Arch or Pacific Highway or Lynden, predicted at about <1m.
Which border crossing should I take southbound if I leave in 60 min?: Peace Arch or Pacific Highway or Lynden or Sumas, predicted at about <6m.
Which border crossing should I take southbound if I leave in 90 min?: Peace Arch or Pacific Highway or Lynden or Sumas, predicted at about <4m.
What is the current border wait time at Peace Arch going southbound?: Less than 5 minutes, as of 1:30 PM PDT on Fri, Oct 30.
What is the predicted border wait time at Peace Arch going southbound in 30 minutes?: About 0 minutes, as of 1:30 PM PDT on Fri, Oct 30.
What is the current border wait time at Lynden going southbound?: About 1 minutes, as of 1:30 PM PDT on Fri, Oct 30.
What is the predicted border wait time at Lynden going southbound in 30 minutes?: About 1 minutes, as of 1:30 PM PDT on Fri, Oct 30.
What is the current border wait time at Pacific Highway going southbound?: Less than 5 minutes, as of 1:30 PM PDT on Fri, Oct 30.
What is the predicted border wait time at Pacific Highway going southbound in 30 minutes?: About 1 minutes, as of 1:30 PM PDT on Fri, Oct 30.
What is the current border wait time at Sumas going southbound?: About 20 minutes, as of 1:30 PM PDT on Fri, Oct 30.
What is the predicted border wait time at Sumas going southbound in 30 minutes?: About 11 minutes, as of 1:30 PM PDT on Fri, Oct 30.
Which Washington to BC border crossing is fastest right now?: As of 1:30 PM PDT on Fri, Oct 30, Peace Arch or Pacific Highway or Lynden is the fastest crossing southbound, checked live against CBP, WSDOT, and CGDW.
How is borderwatch different from other border wait time sites?: Borderwatch predicts wait 30/60/90 minutes ahead and ranks all four Cascade Gateway crossings against each other, instead of only showing a live camera image or a single raw number per crossing.
What is the best border crossing between Seattle and Vancouver?: It depends on the time of day and which way you're going -- Peace Arch, Pacific Highway, Lynden/Aldergrove, and Sumas are the four Cascade Gateway crossings between Washington and British Columbia on the Seattle-Vancouver corridor, and the fastest one changes throughout the day as traffic shifts between them. Borderwatch ranks all four by predicted wait so you don't have to guess.
How do I choose which US-Canada border crossing to use?: Weigh the 30/60/90-minute forecast more heavily than the current wait if you're not leaving immediately -- a crossing that's backed up right now may already be draining, and one that looks clear can fill up by the time you arrive. Also check the other crossings' current wait: drivers divert between them, so a spike at Peace Arch often predicts a spike at Pacific Highway 30 minutes later.