The U.S. Customs and Border Protection plans to only temporarily lower the price of a SENTRI fast- pass and the reduction will apply only pedestrians and drivers at the San Ysidro, Otay Mesa and Calexico ports of entery, an agency spokeswoman said.

CBP officials last week said the price of a SENTRI pass would be slashed from $122.25 to $42.25 but did not specify for how long. The agency is slashing the price to encourage more people to sign up.

SENTRI passes allow low-risk, pre-approved frequent border-crossers access to dedicated lanes at land ports that reduce their travel time.

CBP spokeswoman Jacqueline Wasiluk this week said the federal agency has yet to decide how long the price reduction will last or when it will take effect.

"While we do not plan for the price reduction to be permanent, we do not have an established timeline yet for when the reduced price will go into effect and when it will end," Wasiluk said in an e-mail response to a reporter's questions about SENTRI. "We are still in the planning stages."

Pete Flores, CBP Acting Director for Field Operations in San Diego, said Friday that a new SENTRI processing center will open just east of the San Ysidro Port of Entry in late February or early March. The facility is under construction at the site of a former Payless shoe store.

A SENTRI processing center, where the applicants for the SENTRI pass are interviewed, currently operates in Otay Mesa.