Latest news with #tunnelbus
CTV News
6 days ago
- Business
- CTV News
It's the final month for the ‘tunnel bus'
It's the final month for Transit Windsor's regular tunnel bus service to Detroit. The service comes to an end on Aug. 31 after it was cut during the city's 2025 budget process. Ward 3 city Coun. Renaldo Agostino says the end date should not come as a surprise as the city announced it back in March. Agostino says even though the regular tunnel bus service is coming to an end, the special events bus will continue to operate into December. He says he's hearing more about the special events bus than the regular tunnel bus. 'People would like to see that continue in some form or another,' he says. 'I know that we're working very closely with the Free Press Marathon for example so they were relieved to see that the service will be here at least until the end of the year.' According to a city report released earlier this year, the Aug. 31 timeline 'aligns with the transit operator's shift sign-up process for new pieces of work, and the implementation of the new service plan in September.' The report said, 'extending the special events bus service through the fall would allow the city to generate revenue from events, helping to offset the expected variance and cost pressures in the 2025 Transit Windsor operating budget as a result of the Paid Medical Leave (PML) days.' The city is projecting a revenue of about $640,000 this year for the regular tunnel bus service and the special events bus. In March, a city committee made a friendly amendment requiring any services, whether it be the bus or the transit driver, be reallocated to assist the routes affected by the elimination of the school bus extras program. A motion to override Mayor Drew Dilkens' veto of a budget amendment to continue funding the transit service to downtown Detroit failed in February, ultimately ending the cross-border service. The city's 2025 budget called for the elimination of the regular tunnel bus and special events bus that runs between Windsor and Detroit. The elimination of the service is expected to save the city between $1.4 million and $1.6 million. In late January during city budget deliberation, council voted 7-4 in favour of amending the budget to maintain the tunnel bus and the special events bus but increase rates to $20 each way. — Rob Hindi/AM800 News
CBC
09-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
Final days of the Windsor tunnel bus: Services to stop by end of year
Social Sharing Windsor's decades-old tunnel bus service linking the city to Detroit now has an official end date. In fact, make that two end dates: One for the regular commuter service, and another for the special events service. Commuter service will end on Aug. 31 of this year, while special events service will continue until Dec. 20. The dates were contained in a report that city council approved at a meeting on April 28. "By operating the Tunnel Bus and Special Event services until the end dates outlined in the report, additional revenue of approximately $638,800 is projected to be generated to help offset a portion of the personal medical leave (PML) expense that will occur in 2025," the report says. Those leave expenses were part of Mayor Drew Dilkens' justification earlier this year for cutting the cross-border service. Because the tunnel bus crosses an international border, the entirety of the city's transit workers fall under federal labour laws, which starting in 2022, guaranteed workers 10 paid sick days. Dilkens also argued he couldn't support funding a service to the U.S. amid trade tensions between with Canada. In a use of his strong mayor powers earlier this year, Dilkens vetoed council's decision to continue the tunnel bus service and increase the fare. At last Monday's council meeting, Coun. Kieran McKenzie suggested the city extend the commuter service until the end of the year instead of the special events service, which a city official said has seen declining ridership amid the trade war. "We're seeing a lot more events being cancelled due to low ridership," said Stephan Habrun, acting executive director at Transit Windsor. WATCH: Windsor's tunnel bus is officially dead. Here's how it happened. 3 months ago Duration 3:16 Windsor's tunnel bus, the unique service that takes passengers across the border from Windsor to Detroit and back, will end service this year. It was a decision by Mayor Drew Dilkens that council tried, unsuccessfully, to override on Friday in a bid to save the service. The CBC's Chris Ensing reports. Then-Chief Administrative Officer Joe Mancina, who retired last week, told McKenzie that ending the commuter service at the end of the summer frees up resources for other "service-level enhancements" planned for the fall. He said there are bigger events in the fall as well, such as football and hockey games, to draw riders in and hopefully recoup more costs — at a time when maybe tensions with the U.S. will have simmered down.
