The consequences of Windsor’s Special Events and Tunnel Bus service ending: Expert

CTV News file photo.

Many local baseball fans will be crossing the border to watch the Toronto Blue Jays take on the Detroit Tigers in a battle of two top teams in Major League Baseball. But, soon enough, that will become harder to do as the Special Events and Tunnel Bus services will come to an end.

“This is the busiest weekend of the year,” said Tal Czudner, CEO of the Windsor-Detroit Tunnel Corporation.

“This is going to add at least a few hundred more vehicles each day, up to 1,000, depending on who’s pitching. Windsor is packed. Downtown Detroit is packed. It’s a big deal.”

Come September, the Tunnel Bus is done, while the Special Events bus will cease operations in December.

“If we had some type of vehicle that could transport people that less than two-kilometre radius back and forth over the tunnel, that’s constantly going, we would see more people coming over here and more people would go over there and we connect better with our downtowns,” said City Councillor Renaldo Agostino.

A five-passenger GEM CAR could be part of the solution. They are already deployed in Detroit.

“This vehicle is a micro transit service that is operating across North America as we speak,” said Alex Cardonaro, National Sales Manager for Energy Products. With the use of an app, the vehicle can pick up a group and take them through the tunnel to their destination.

“We’re looking to work with local partners that would be interested in supplying personnel that would be able to fill these vehicles with the drivers.”

Josipa Petrunic is a leader in transportation and energy systems and said killing the bus is more than a labour discussion. She feels losing the bus kills a huge technology deployment opportunity.

“It means it is the only place in North America where we can test speed controlled autonomous bus shuttles, speed controlled autonomous buses integrated across two countries for interoperability and standardization. This is game changing,” Petrunic told CTV News.

Many companies are working on robotaxi programs utilizing level four autonomy systems. Petrunic feels buses best fit that level and can be tested optimally in the tunnel because of the dedicated lanes, predictable paths, and speed limit.

“You could imagine one bus driver at the start, but you have a convoy of five buses following it that could carry the amount that a rail car can carry,” Petrunic explained.

“You don’t have to build a subway; you don’t have to build an LRT (light-rail transit). You just have a convoy of autonomous buses following each other. That is what the tunnel can showcase. We’ve been talking about this for 10 years.”

She added those buses can be pulled from the convoy, based on need.

Petrunic feels Windsor-Detroit could integrate automated technology faster than the auto sector. She said there is an opportunity for Windsor to seek funding the government has already declared will be made available through the Canada Public Transit Fund.

“This is a transit opportunity,” Petrunic said.

“It’s also an opportunity to get the kind of operational support for Windsor that it needs, in order to deploy, not just technologically advanced transit, but just sustainable transit in the tunnel.”

With a person like Gregor Robertson as Minister of Housing and Infrastructure, Petrunic feels his understanding of transit, having been mayor of Vancouver for 10 years, would benefit a city like Windsor.

“I believe there is a federal minister who would be extremely sympathetic and understanding and comprehend the problems that Windsor is facing, especially if the tunnel is tethered to technology,” she said.

“It’s a win-win-win for the minister and for the mayor and for the city and for the transit manufacturing industry.”