The New Pedestrian Border Crossing At Tijuana

With over 20,000 persons walking across the border and 70,000 people driving across the border from Tijuana to San Ysidro everyday makes it the 2nd busiest International border in the world.  Until 2018 crossing the border to the USA was usually not a fun experience.  That has changed thanks to major upgrades in the US Homeland Security infrastructure.

Pedestrian walkway to Tijuana and the
San Ysidro Port of Entry 

Walking to Tijuana - It's easier than ever to visit Tijuana now that the renovations to the Port of San Ysidro - Tijuana Pedestrian Facility is finished.  The walkway design and innovative immigration station layout along with Border and Customs officials using the newly implemented inspection technology minimizes what had been long lines and convenient delays that plagued the pedestrian immigration facility.

The new pedestrian crossing, PedWest, located just west of the main Mexico - USA border crossing allowing both entry to Mexico and the USA additionally makes it beneficial for visitors to Tijuana to walk across the border.

The San Diego Trolley Tijuana - San Ysidro
McDonald's Plaza Station

The San Diego Blue Line Trolley connects Down Town San Diego with the international border creating a very economical method of commuting to Tijuana.  The trolley runs from 4:30am through 1:00 after midnight  northbound and 5:00am through 11:48pm southbound from America Plaza and the Santa Fe Train Station 7 days a week.  The fare is $2.50 each way.  The timeline is 45 minutes.

There are plenty of parking options available for leaving your car in San Ysidro with prices ranging from $7.00 to $20.00 for 24 hours.  Driving your car or a rental to Tijuana makes no sense unless your plans include surfing. 

San Ysidro Port of Entry Pedestrian Crossing

The wait times for pedestrians crossing can be accessed on line using this web site San Ysidro - Tijuana Border Wait Times   Usually the longest wait time will be 1 hour returning to the USA especially if you are caught in the rush hour traffic from 6:00am to 9:00am that comprises both Mexicans and Americans that live in Tijuana commuting to San Diego for work/  For the rest of the day the wait time is 15 to 30 minutes and in the late afternoon and evenings the wait time is 10 minutes or less.

There is practically no wait time entering Mexico except for Friday and Saturday late evening when college kids and young adults venture to Tijuana for the night life.  Avoiding what can be an hour wait or more is easy - just plan on arriving at the border before 9:00 pm.

Checkout our earlier post The New San Ysidro Pedestrian Border Crossings
and Visiting Mexico - Immigration laws for Mexico and returning to the USA

Navigating the San Ysidro - Tijuana Crossing Border By Foot