Posted on 08/16/2008 9:02:59 PM PDT by calcowgirl
Governors at an annual conference explore public-private toll lanes to cut wait times between the U.S. and Mexico.
Hoping to cut down on wait times at the border, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Friday that he and other governors are exploring the idea of public-private partnerships to construct vehicle toll lanes at entry points between the United States and Mexico.
Schwarzenegger raised the issue at the closing of the 26th annual Border Governors Conference, a three-day summit that drew four governors from the United States and six from Mexico. Among the problems the governors agreed to tackle next year was the reduction of border crossing times.
Currently, passenger vehicles can wait up to two hours to cross the border, and commercial vehicles can wait up to four. These delays, according to the Schwarzenegger administration, could discourage tourism and other business.
Schwarzenegger said U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, who also attended the conference, signaled a willingness to examine partnerships with private companies to develop new points of entry. Revenue from tolls could be used to repay construction bonds.
"Everyone agrees that we need to expand the pipe . . . which means that we can get more people across quicker, more efficiently," Schwarzenegger said at a news conference at Universal Studios, where the conference took place.
The governor said there could be legal hurdles to involving private developers at crossing points and acknowledged that the idea might be controversial.
Schwarzenegger said the governors' representatives would meet with federal officials soon to figure out how to create such partnerships without drawing criticism that "you're selling off the border" or giving up control.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
The ultimate goal is to toll everyone once they leave their driveway. The technology is there, but people HATE it.
So they begin with this baby-step (and a few others).
Chertoff signaled a willingness to open new points of entry?
What a shocker.
I don’t think its possible to speed up border crossings faster than they are going on now without violating the laws of physics.
My Sunny SoCal relatives just left this house of Conservatism .
Shocked at the facts of real life....
Still Drama Queens....
OOOH! that’s SCARY!
But hey .... it’s still all about “me”
Former So Cal girl
What's he going to do? Put JATO (Jet takeoff and assist) bottles on the illegals?
“Everyone agrees that we need to expand the pipe . . . which means that we can get more people across quicker, more efficiently,” Schwarzenegger said at a news conference at Universal Studios, where the conference took place.”
Yeah, these four US border governors are/were the ones McCain was going to ask to certify that the borders are secure, back when he “got the message”. And after that, I’m sure, very stringent and no nonsense look ayt border security by those four governors, McCain would then grant amnesty to all.
But I think McCain has since even abandoned that deliberate feint (lie) used during the primaries.
He’s still touting it.
(of course, I *think* he meant Governors of U.S. states, not Mexican states—but who can be sure anymore!)
http://www.johnmccain.com/informing/issues/68db8157-d301-4e22-baf7-a70dd8416efa.htm
Securing Our Borders First. John McCain’s top immigration priority is to finish securing our borders in an expedited manner. Governors of border states will be required to certify that the border is secure.
Without his leadership in demonstrating that the difficulty of crossing the border with Mexico is the most pressing issue in Kalifornia, I might have thought that the lack of a budget and $15 billion in excess annual expenditures might have been the most important issue for him to be working on.
LOL
;-)
....”he and other governors are exploring the idea of public-private partnerships to construct vehicle toll lanes at entry points between the United States and Mexico.”
thus, bypassing immigration and customs.
Can anyone say North American Union or NAU Superhighway?
I want people crossing the mexican border more slowly and less efficiently. I want a lot of switchback in the process. I want the process to be unpleasant.
“I don’t think its possible to speed up border crossings faster than they are going on now without violating the laws of physics.”
What do you think we’re talking about? We are studying the feasibility of installing overbridges across the border fences every so many miles. You know it’s been so difficult for our Mexican border crossers lately. Imagine they have to jump over those stupid new fences separating us and Mexico.
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