It’s the final month for the ‘tunnel bus’

It’s the last month for the Windsor Tunnel Bus; the special events bus will keep running though until December.

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