Gabriel Ciavaglia

Josh Sankarlal of Activate Transit Windsor Essex speaks with Dan MacDonald about the City of Windsor 2025 Budget.

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A cross-border transit service that brings Canadians to Detroit and its sporting events and U.S. residents to the Windsor area might be discontinued.

The Tunnel Bus, which is operated by Transit Windsor, could become a casualty of budget wrangling in Windsor. The Tunnel Bus operates on a one-hour schedule between Windsor and Detroit and costs $10 (Canadian or American) each way.

Its potential fate has caught the attention of transit advocates on both sides of the border.

Josh Sankarlal, of Activate Transit Windsor Essex, said his advocacy group is trying to raise awareness around the issue. He said some people use the service for commuting, while others use it to connect with special events.

He was critical of the process to date and the city of Windsor’s approach.

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Windsor city councillors heard from the public on Monday, as many residents wrote into council or came to the meeting to speak to their thoughts, concerns and ideas for the 2025 city budget. Council will discuss the budget again on Jan. 27, but as the CBC’s Chris Ensing tells us, transit was one of the major issues on people’s minds.

Listen to the full segment here

City council is being told to find a way to spend more money on Transit Windsor instead of a agreeing to a proposed service reduction.

The topic dominated the city’s public delegation period focusing on the 2025 capital and operating budget.

On Monday, Dilkens confirmed the item dealt with the potential elimination of Windsor’s tunnel bus that crosses the border into Detroit. 

“The subsidy provided to operate the tunnel bus is just dramatic,” said Dilkens, citing the 10 sick days required for workers in federally regulated industries, which includes Transit Windsor because of the international crossing.

Nate Hope of Activate Transit Windsor-Essex was handing out flyers on the weekend to folks at the Transit Windsor tunnel bus pick-up location. 

He told council some people had no interest in the flyer but grabbed for it when they heard it had to do with potential tunnel bus cuts.  

“When they heard that there might be a possibility of something happening with the tunnel bus they were really shocked,” said Hope. 

He’s connected with Transit Riders United, another advocacy group in Detroit, and both believe there could be tweaks to the tunnel bus route on both sides of the border. 

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A local transit advocacy group is calling for more investments for Transit Windsor after the mayor tabled the 2025 budget.

While the budget outlines service improvements like increased route frequency they come at the expense of other service cuts, mainly the elimination of school extra buses.

The budget also highlights a $1.4 million service reduction, the details of which are in-camera and have not been disclosed.

“What we’re looking for is investments into the transit service that haven’t been introduced in previous years that has created the system that we’re seeing today where folks are getting their buses 20, 30, 40 minutes late,” said Joshua Sankarlal with Activate Transit Windsor Essex.

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Josh Sankarlal, from Activate Transit Windsor-Essex, joins Meg to talk about the proposed cuts to Transit Windsor in the city’s 2025 budget.

Listen to the full segment here

Transit Windsor is facing a revenue deficit of more than half a million dollars this financial quarter — and diminishing usage of the tunnel bus is being cited as a major reason.

Nate Hope, a founding member of the citizen advocacy group Activate Transit Windsor Essex, feels the tunnel bus should be preserved — even if it isn’t profitable.

“There’s no bus system in the country that makes profit. Transit is a service,” Hope told CBC Windsor.

“The tunnel bus is something that’s very unique to the whole country. We’re the only transit service that has cross-border access. That’s a huge benefit.”

“People in Windsor-Essex, we have a strong connection with Detroit. People have family over there. People work over there — right downtown.”

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Transit advocacy groups from across the country are joining forces for Transit Action Week, calling upon the federal government to increase funding through the Canada Public Transit Fund.

Transit advocacy groups from across the country are joining forces for Transit Action Week, calling upon the federal government to increase funding through the Canada Public Transit Fund. 

From Oct. 15. to 20, participating cities including Windsor, Toronto, Edmonton, Vancouver, Kitchener-Waterloo and more are calling on policymakers to make transit a top priority and empower communities to tackle the climate crisis while improving daily life for millions of Canadians. 

Speaking on AM800’s The Shift with Patty Handysides, founding member of Activate Transit Windsor Essex (ATWE) Nate Hope says the groups are pushing for funding to cover operational costs such as hiring more drivers, mechanics, and staff to keep buses, trains, and streetcars in motion. 

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