Windsor-Detroit tunnel bus service resumes Nov. 27 — but not for special events

Transit Windsor’s tunnel bus service to and from Detroit is returning this month — but with limited service.

The service returns for commuters and day trippers on Sunday, Nov. 27, but the new hours of operation and frequency of buses will be limited initially and will not accommodate special events at this time.

The city says the resumption of tunnel service will focus on serving those in need first, while plans for increased capacity for special events will follow later in 2023.

“While the Tunnel Bus service was paused over the past two-plus years, most of the calls we received were from commuters and students, telling us that the absence of the service was making commuting to Downtown Detroit challenging,” said Transit Windsor executive director Tyson Cragg.

“We are delighted to be able to resume the downtown commuter service to assist these riders.”

Service departs from the Windsor International Transit Terminal at 300 Chatham Street West every hour on the hour. The Monday to Saturday schedule is 6 a.m. to 9:41 p.m. There will only be one bus operating this service, and seating capacity will be limited. The full schedule can be viewed here.

Mike Dimitry, who used the Tunnel Bus about "five to ten times per year" to attend sporting events, said he would have liked to see routes extend later into the night as they did pre-pandemic.

He said the current schedule will result in Windsorites being able to get to the U.S. for late-night visits and events while forcing them to make their own arrangements to return home.

"I don't think it makes a whole lot of sense to have it take you one way and not the other way. Obviously. it's got to be there and back," said Dimitry, adding most of the hockey season will be missed by the time the special event service resumes.

"We would definitely appreciate having the bus going throughout the winter and throughout the season to be able to take them there and back."

Sunday service will operate on a one-hour frequency with the first run departing from the Windsor International Transit Terminal at 8:00 a.m. and the last bus from Detroit returning at 7:41 p.m.

Transit Windsor — which runs the only municipally-operated, cross-border public transit service in Canada — says it strongly encourages anyone attending a concert or sporting event across the border to find other transportation.

The Tunnel Bus was previously targeted to return Nov. 20. But, according to Cragg, that date had to be pushed back by one week due to issues with training staff on time, including 50 drivers who were hired during the pandemic and have never driven the Tunnel Bus before.

"Not only that, but we have the other 150 drivers who haven't done this in two and a half years. We certainly had to give them the option as well that if they wanted to refresh their training or if we felt they needed it," said Cragg, adding it takes a full day to train each driver one-by-one for the Tunnel Bus.

"It's driving the buses. There's clearance issues within the tunnel. Obviously, there's very specific requirements from a CBSA or CBP perspective as to where the bus stops, the actions the drivers have to take in terms of clearing the buses and reporting the passengers. Immigration and clearance issues for the drivers themselves, whether it's Nexus cards, passports, etc. And all the tunnel procedures as well."