More Countries Interested in Adopting Border Crossing Booking System
GoSwift, the Estonian company that developed the web-based system for crossing the Estonian-Russian border, says its solution has interested other countries as well, reported ERR radio.
Although people intending to cross that border with vehicles must still register up to 10 days in advance, they have not had to physically wait behind long lines of semi-trucks since 2011.
The developers of the service, which allows travelers to book their border crossing ahead of time, say their potential market extends to all of the EU's eastern borders.
So far, the GoSwift solution has been implemented at three checkpoints in the Estonian-Russian direction and at one checkpoint in the Russian-Estonian direction. It has also been implemented at the Lithuanian-Kaliningrad border, and a contract has been signed for four additional checkpoints in Lithuania, including one due to open at the Belarus border at the end of this year.
Other countries have also expressed interest, according the company, although it would not reveal which ones.
Operators admitted, though, that the Estonian-Russian border queues have merely transferred online, and tourists unaware of the queues and expecting to quickly cross the border can run into trouble.
In order to eliminate the queues, the Estonian and Russian governments would have to speed up border procedures and expand crossing points.