TIJUANA – Traffic jams near the border resulting from a new computer system at the San Ysidro Port of Entry eased significantly Thursday, Tijuana's transit chief said.

“The delays were back to normal,” Alfonso Saenz Gastelum, head of transit for the municipal police department, said of morning rush-hour traffic.

Earlier this week, users of the fast-track SENTRI lanes caused mile-long traffic backups along the Via Rapida Oriente, a major thoroughfare that also leads to government offices, a municipal recreation center and the Pueblo Amigo shopping center.

According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, inspectors are learning the new system, which is intended to increase efficiency and security at the border crossing.

“Today (Thursday), it was much better,” said Mara Valladolid, a regular SENTRI user. The Tijuana resident, who drives her daughter and three friends to school in Lemon Grove every morning, said the wait was less than an hour Thursday, compared with a two-hour wait the previous three mornings.