LiveWaits / Border crossings / Rainbow Bridge (Buffalo/Niagara Falls)

Rainbow Bridge (Buffalo/Niagara Falls) border wait times

Rainbow Bridge (Buffalo/Niagara Falls) is a Canada land crossing, open 24 hrs/day. CBP is reporting on 1 lane group here right now, and this page reads that feed directly, so the numbers change while you watch them.Rainbow Bridge (Buffalo/Niagara Falls) on the Canada border, live from CBP. 1 lane group reporting now.

Live from CBP · checked 04:18 UTC on 31 August 2026

Rainbow Bridge (Buffalo/Niagara Falls) wait right now, southbound into the U.S.Rainbow Bridge (Buffalo/Niagara Falls) wait right now

9 min Standard lane, southbound into the U.S.

Only 4 of 16 car lanes are open right now.

Walk

Lanes Closed

Best time to cross

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Southbound is lightest from 3 AM to 7 AM and worst around 1 AM. Typical by hour, CBP prior-year average.

Which lane should you use?

General 9 min

Open to anyone, no sign-up.

4 of 16 open

The nearest crossing

This crossing 9 min, cars · here

Bluewater Bridge (Port Huron) 0 min, cars · 170 mi west

Port Huron is about 9 minutes faster right now, 170 mi west. Worth the drive if you are not crossing on foot.

Documents you will need

U.S. citizens Passport, passport card, or enhanced driver's license.

Permanent residents Green card (Form I-551).

Visitors Passport plus a visa or ESTA where required.

Children under 16 A birth certificate is accepted by land.

Rainbow Bridge (Buffalo/Niagara Falls) crossing, common questions

How long is the wait at Buffalo/Niagara Falls right now?

The figure at the top of this page is the delay CBP itself reports for passenger vehicles in the general lanes, refreshed every few minutes while the page is open. CBP measures each lane group separately, so pedestrians and trucks can be queueing very differently from cars.

Do NEXUS, SENTRI and Ready lanes actually save time here?

Where CBP staffs them, yes, and this page shows their delay side by side with the general lanes so you can see the gap today rather than in general. When a trusted traveler lane shows no reading it is closed, and the general lane is the only option.

Why does the wait jump around so much?

CBP recalculates from vehicles actually processed, and opens or closes booths through the day. A crossing can go from ten minutes to forty in one update when a lane closes, which is why a number from an hour ago is not worth much.

Live from U.S. Customs and Border Protection; typical-by-hour is CBP's own prior-year average. How these numbers are made.