Vancouver to Seattle Ground Transportation

[tekjr1]

Anyone know of a good way to get from Ballantyne to downtown Seattle without renting a car one way? The drop fees are outrageous. Amtrak train leaves too late. Is there a shuttle of some type?

 

Thanks.

[Budget Queen]

Your cruiseline will have bus transfers, and there is Quick shuttle independent. These are only slightly cheaper than the one way rental cars. Allow at least 4-5 hours. And don't book any Seattle return flights before 4pm.

[SeattleCruiselover]

Actually, with the new border crossing requirements that went into effect last week, a 4 pm flight might be too early....it hasn't been pretty up there.

[tylerdad]

I don't really understand what people are talking about with the border crossing requirements.

[SeattleCruiselover]

Border crossing requirements have been tightened as of 1 Feb 08. You must now have certified copies of birth certificates and government issued photo ID's. Driving licenses alone are no longer considered sufficient identification to cross the border. They are also particularly looking for the "enhanced drivers license" (also called the Real ID), or the new passport cards. If you have a passport, it is going to be easier to cross, but they are now scrutinizing everything more closely, and it is taking longer for surface transportation to cross the border.

 

Crossings at Blaine (the main crossing from BC into WA) have been up to 2 hours longer than normal this past week (and normal, with the construction in the area, has been anywhere from 1-3 hours prior to now).

 

From the U.S. Customs and Border Protection web site:

Effective January 31, 2008, U.S. and Canadian citizens ages 19 and older should no longer expect that they will be able to prove identity and citizenship by relying on an oral declaration alone.

These regulations apply to both US and Canadian citizens for entry into the United States.

There are two options for documentation:

Single Document Option – one of the following meets the requirements to prove both identity and citizenship:

 

• U.S. or Canadian Passport
  
• U.S. Passport Card (Available spring 2008)
  
• Trusted Traveler Cards (NEXUS, SENTRI, or FAST)
  
• State or Provincial Issued Enhanced Driver’s License (when available – this secure driver’s license will denote identity and citizenship.)
  
• Enhanced Tribal Cards (when available)
  
• U.S. Military Identification with Military Travel Orders
  
• U.S. Merchant Mariner Document
  
• Native American Tribal Photo Identification Card
  
• Form I-872 American Indian Card
  
• Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) Card

Two Document Option – If you don’t have one of the above documents, you must present BOTH an identification and citizenship document:

 

Identification Documents(must have a photo, name and date of birth)

• Driver’s license or identification card issued by a federal, state, provincial, county, territory, or municipal authority
  
• U.S. or Canadian military identification card

Citizenship Documents

• U.S. or Canadian birth certificate issued by a federal, state, provincial, county, territory or municipal authority
  
• U.S. Consular report of birth abroad
  
• U.S. Certificate of Naturalization
  
• U.S. Certificate of Citizenship
  
• U.S. Citizen Identification Card
  
• Canadian Citizenship Card
  
• Canadian certificate of citizenship without photo

Procedures for Children – U.S. and Canadian citizen children ages 18 and under will be expected to present a birth certificate issued by a federal, state, provincial, county or municipal authority.

Experts are saying these requirements will likely increase border crossing wait times (and trust me, they are already lengthy) — at least until people get used to the new requirements.

[tylerdad]

Thanks I have read all that before but we have been reguired to give them our DL and BC when we croos over to Washington. We have been doing this for a few years. We use our passports now that we have them. We cross on a regular basis and have not encountered longer lineups than we had before feb1 . We live near the border and have not found this to be true.

 

I guess what I am saying is for the people from Vancouver and area nothing has changed . The line ups are longer but have been for some time due to the stronger Canadian Dollar.

[SeattleCruiselover]

Do me a favor and tell me when you are crossing....I can mostly only get away on weekends right now, and haven't been able to find under a 2.5 hour wait time any time.

[tylerdad]

usually cross into the US around 8ish am and back into Canada around 8 pm,usually during the week.The last time we crossed at Blaine we got there about 8am on a tuesday and back to Canada about 7 at Lynden crossing. There was no line up going south at Lynden at all 3/4 cars maybe.

 

Maybe try a different crossing,we usually cross at Lynden but have crossed at all of them.Maybe I am just having better luck

My older brother crosses pretty much every weekend and has never waited more than an hour. He also has a camper and horse trailer that sometimes is searched.

[hybrn8]

We have a big car rented with AVIS for the same drive this summer and it is $125 Canadian, all up except for gas. Check them out.

[tekjr1]

Thanks, I think I will try Quick Shuttle. I am prepared for the long wait at the border. I am very familiar with the procedures since I am a CBP agent. Alas, I'm just like anyone else when I'm sitting on the bus waiting to clear. I usually don't have any problems with documentation though.

 

Thanks,

 

Tom