The Cross Border Xpress (CBX), also known as the Puerta de las Californias (Spanish for "Gateway of the Californias"), is a border crossing and port of entry that connects San Diego in the United States and Tijuana International Airport in Mexico. Operational since December 2015, CBX consists of a terminal building located in the Otay Mesa community that is connected to the airport with a dedicated 120-meter (390 ft) pedestrian bridge that travels over the United States–Mexico border.
CBX eliminates the need for travelers to navigate traditional border crossings, potentially bypassing lengthy wait times. Departing passengers check-in for their flight on the U.S. side, cross the bridge, and proceed through Mexican customs and airport security. Conversely, arriving passengers clear U.S. customs and immigration upon reaching the Otay Mesa terminal before exiting on the U.S. side.
Conceptualized in 1989 by Ralph Nieders, CBX was managed by Otay-Tijuana Venture LLC, a consortium of U.S. and Mexican companies that included PAP, PALAREO, and EGI-OTAY Investors, with financing from Invex and Bancomext. In December 2025, Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico (GAP), the operator of Tijuana International Airport, acquired CBX from Otay-Tijuana Venture LLC for $2.2 billion. GAP stated that the acquisition would integrate the facility into its airport network and support future development on the U.S. side of the border.
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Facilities and operation
The CBX bridge can only be used by passengers with boarding passes for flights into or out of Tijuana International Airport. Departing passengers can access the bridge up to 24 hours before their flight, while arriving passengers have two hours after landing to cross into the U.S.
As of 2024, the fee to use the bridge varies by travel season, with one-way prices ranging from US$20 to 30. Discounts are available for families, military, commuters and those purchasing a round-trip.
On the U.S. side of the bridge is a terminal with ticket counters and kiosks for paying bridge access fees, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility to process passengers arriving from Mexico, car rental counters, taxi stands, shuttle bus services and 900 paid parking spaces.
On the Mexican side of the bridge, ticket counters and kiosks for paying bridge access fees are located within the Tijuana International Airport baggage claim area and Mexican immigration and customs facilities.
History
The first discussion of a cross-border terminal was part of a proposal initiated by Mexico's Minister of Public Works (Secretario de Obras Publicas) Gilberto Valenzuela Ezquerro who under Mexico's President Gustavo Díaz Ordaz (1964–1970) was directed to modernize Mexico's airports and transportation system. In 1965, Gilberto Valenzuela approached then mayor of San Diego Frank Curran with a proposal to jointly develop a Tijuana-San Diego airport on Otay Mesa, but at the time, San Diego considered Otay Mesa too remote. Gilberto Valenzuela Ezquerro then initiated the development of the Tijuana airport which was expanded from 128 hectares (316 acres) to 448 hectares (1107 acres) to accommodate a new terminal and runway.
From 1965 until 1987, the concept of a cross-border terminal lay dormant until Dennis Conner America's Cup victory in Australia. Freddie Laker, who had pioneered low-fare commercial transatlantic routes and was the founder of Laker Airways, became interested in developing international commercial/charter flights through Mexico to service the projected passenger traffic for the America's Cup challenge in San Diego. He met with Rodolfo Ramos Ortiz, who had introduced charter operations in Mexico in the 1970s and founded Aerounión and Aerocharter de México, S.A. de C.V. Negotiations failed but the concept of a cross-border terminal continued to evolve.
In 1989, Ralph Nieders, who had been involved in the Freddie Laker discussions, made a formal proposal to Mexicana de Aviación, S.A. de C.V. in Mexico City. The proposal was accepted and a letter of intent drawn in 1990 for the acquisition of Martinez Ranch (parcel number APN 667-050-07) as the designated site for the cross-border terminal. The Mexicana de Aviación/Nieders image 1 shown in this section became the first of a series of plans/diagrams that were created to better promote the project. Contact was then made with the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) whose plans for a "bi-national airport" had been undermined in November 1989, when the San Diego City Council lifted a building moratorium on Otay Mesa. SANDAG did not support the development of a cross-border terminal as it sought to again revive its efforts to create a bi-national airport on San Diego's Otay Mesa and Mexicana de Aviación opted not to pursue the project in January, 1991. As Mexicana de Aviación withdrew, in February 1991, Rodolfo Ramos Ortiz/Aerocharter de México looking at the Tijuana airport's potential for passenger and cargo operations to Japan and other Pacific destinations joined Ralph Nieders to continue promoting the cross-border terminal. As shown by image 2, an updated rendering was then created showing a fully developed Tijuana airport and how its cargo and passengers would directly connect to San Diego's surface streets and freeway system.