Why Windsor wants to kill tunnel bus, high school ‘extras’

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The tunnel bus between Windsor and Detroit will end if council adopts the 2025 budget Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens has proposed.

In a sit-down interview with the Star, Dilkens revealed his suggested budget would kill the city-funded cross-border transit service, something he previously said was possible but wouldn’t confirm.

With an unspecified $1.4-million service elimination to Transit Windsor listed in public budget documents causing concern among bus riders, several of whom appeared before council on Monday, they mayor said he wanted to set the record straight.

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“This is not an assault on transit,” Dilkens told the Star Tuesday. “There is a limit to what taxpayers are willing to pay for this particular service. I don’t think it’s the responsibility of the municipality to get people to work in a different country.

“I also don’t think that it’s the municipality’s responsibility to provide a highly subsidized service to get people to spend their money in the United States.”

Dilkens said he would have left the tunnel bus alone if not for changes to the Canada Labour Code enacted in late 2022. Those changes grant all federally regulated employees — Transit Windsor workers included — 10 days of paid medical leave per year on top of existing benefits.

All of Transit Windsor falls within the scope of federal labour laws because tunnel bus operators provide a service that crosses an international border.

The legislated change means Transit Windsor’s roughly 300 employees — bus operators, mechanics, and customer service personnel — receive 10 additional paid sick days, regardless of whether they cross the border for work.

It would take around 12 additional drivers to cover those hours, budget documents say. Uncertain of how many sick days staff would actually use, city council in 2024 hired six drivers for $508,675 and relied on $543,600 in reserve funds to cover any necessary overtime.

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Last year, the average Transit Windsor employee used eight of those sick days and was paid out for the rest. 

City treasurer and chief financial officer Janice Guthrie said Transit Windsor had to spend all of the allotted reserve funds last year on the extra employee sick days.

The cross-border service collected roughly 84,000 fares in 2024, less than one per cent of all Transit Windsor fares for the year (9.6 million). On an average weekday, it collected 175 fares.

The tunnel bus and associated special events buses, which used to break even, now cost the city around $1.4 million more each year.

Passenger fares for the tunnel bus are $10 one way, but each trip actually costs $35. Windsor taxpayers subsidize the $25 difference, the mayor said.

tunnel bus
Transit Windsor tunnel bus to downtown Detroit is too expensive for city taxpayers, says Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens, shown speaking with reporters following a six-hour city council budget meeting on Monday, Jan. 13, 2025. Photo by Taylor Campbell /Windsor Star

“It would be less of a subsidy for us to get a Vets taxi, put three guys in a car, send them to Ford Field, and have the taxi come back empty,” Dilkens said. “Paying the taxi fare and the tolls is cheaper than taking the tunnel bus with the fares passengers pay and the corresponding subsidy.”

For regular Transit Windsor rides in the city, taxpayers subsidize each trip by about 47 per cent, or another $3.33 for each rider’s $3.75 fare, the mayor said.

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If left unaltered, Dilkens’s proposed 2025 budget would see a 2.99 per cent increase in property taxes — roughly $14.5 million — in what he’s described as a “challenging” budget year. Preliminary estimates released by city hall in September pegged the levy impact at nearly 13 per cent if no cuts or revenue sources were identified.

Eliminating the tunnel bus would have a 0.28-per-cent impact on the city’s operating budget.

City council heard from public delegates about the proposed budget on Monday. Council will debate the document and have the opportunity to pass amendments on Jan. 27.

Dilkens then has 10 days to veto any council amendments. Following that, council has 15 days to overturn any mayoral veto with a minimum 8-3 vote.

tunnel bus
‘The tunnel bus is a lifeline.’ Windsor resident Stephanie Thompson speaks out against the possible elimination of the Transit Windsor tunnel bus to Detroit during a budget meeting of city council on Monday, Jan. 13, 2025. Photo by Taylor Campbell /Windsor Star

On Monday, Windsor resident Stephanie Thompson told council she has a disability and has relied on the tunnel bus to get to and from family in Detroit for more than 40 years. She urged council to consider the “far-reaching consequences” of eliminating a service she considers vital.

“The tunnel bus is a lifeline,” Thompson said. “It connects families, fosters cultural exchange, and supports local economies.

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“The loss of this service would be devastating and discriminatory. It will put people out of work, limit access to essential services, and disproportionately affect vulnerable members of our society.”

tunnel bus
Windsor resident  Zachary Balogh calls on city council to preserve the tunnel bus and invest more in Transit Windsor during a meeting of city council on Monday. Photo by Taylor Campbell /Windsor Star

Zachary Balogh, a Transit Windsor rider, encouraged council to preserve the tunnel bus and also invest more in its regular transit system.

“It’s egregious that you would look to cut the budget from Transit Windsor. Actually, it’s beyond egregious,” he said. “I’ve been taking the bus for over 10 years now and I’ve never seen it worse than it is now.”

‘School bus extras’

Dilkens’s budget also proposes eliminating “school bus extras,” which take some students who pay regular fares directly to school from a designated route not available to the public. Getting rid of the service, which brings students to and from four local high schools, was a recommendation from one of the council finance committees tasked with identifying budget savings.

It’s also a “key element” of the Transit Windsor master plan, the budget document said, and would allow the city to redistribute those saved school bus extra resources to enhance existing transit routes.

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The move would see nine buses — a $12.6 million value — introduced into the regular transit system full-time, with the addition of nearly 15,000 service hours to five routes: the Dougall 6, the South Windsor 7, the Walkerville 8, the Parent 14, and Route 115 (formerly the Dominion 5). Within Windsor, the transit system currently has about 330,000 annual service hours.

“It’s a net-neutral on the operating budget side, but you can’t underestimate the amount on the capital side,” said city CAO Joe Mancina. “It allows us to optimize the buses for the rest of the service.

“That’s huge — $12.6 million over the 10-year capital plan is huge.”

Representatives from both school boards impacted by the proposed extras elimination voiced “unreserved” opposition to the move and urged council to “seriously reconsider.” In a joint letter to city council, Emelda Byrne, director of education for the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board, and Vicki Houston, director of education for the Greater Essex County District School Board, said extra buses are “extremely well utilized,” moving approximately 640 students to and from four schools daily.

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School bus extras serve Holy Names Catholic High School, Vincent Massey Secondary School, Riverside Secondary School, and St. Joseph’s Catholic High School.

Principals are concerned, the letter said, that more parents will “undoubtedly” drive children to and from schools if school bus extras are eliminated, adding traffic to already congested roads around schools. Without extras, some students will have to take connecting buses, and therefore face increased ride time, the possibility of missed connections, “and subsequently missed classroom instructional time.”

For students from lower socio-economic households whose only source of transportation is extra buses, eliminating the service “could have a negative outcome on student attendance and subsequently, student achievement.” The boards also expressed doubt that regular routes would be able to handle the student load.

The boards said they found out about the proposed changes through local media and were not contacted by the city for feedback or collaboration.

Ward 1 Coun. Fred Francis told the Star he voted against eliminating school bus extras when it was proposed during a council finance committee dealing with economic development and engineering. The committee ultimately recommended the move be included in the mayor’s proposed budget.

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“There’s a reason why they’re there,” Francis said. “The situation, the challenges within the neighbourhoods with respect to congestion and parking and traffic — is that going to make things better or worse? I’m not convinced it’s going to make it better.”

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Jelena Payne, the city’s commissioner of economic development, told the Star redistributing the school bus extras to the regular transit system will improve service for teens. Because the extras are a “direct route,” any student who misses the extra bus would likely take regular transit anyway to and from school, she said.

“By enhancing the system and providing more buses, more frequency, these kids now have the ability to do after-school sports. They can stay after school and get extra help from teachers. They can come in earlier for before-school activities.

“In our opinion, it provides more flexibility and better service to the students.”

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