Tunnel will cost drivers more in two weeks
When American travellers are welcomed back to Canada at the Windsor-detroit Tunnel in less than two weeks, they'll also be greeted by higher crossing tolls.
The increase on the Windsor side for those driving passenger vehicles and with Canadian cash in their pockets jumps 37 per cent to $6.50 per crossing on Aug. 9, up from the pre-pandemic $4.75. For those paying in American cash, the hike is a gentler 11 per cent, to US$5 from US$4.50.
“We haven't had a toll increase in six years,” said Carolyn Brown, CEO of Windsor Detroit Borderlink Ltd. The price increases, she said, bring the tolls on the Windsor-owned side of the tunnel in “harmony” with what the owners of the American half have been charging.
Brown describes the toll hike decision as part of “the normal course of business,” but the operators of the international crossing also have their budget eye on another looming pandemic-caused deficit due to the low number of travellers permitted to cross the border.
Only essential travel is currently permitted through the Canada-u.s.a. land border crossings. Brown said weekday passenger vehicle traffic through the tunnel is down 70 per cent from PRE-COVID levels (from about 10,800 daily crossings to 3,200 now), while weekend crossings are down 91 per cent (to about 1,000 vehicles per day).
As a consequence, the tunnel incurred a $6-million deficit between the closure to non-essential travel in mid-march 2020 and the end of the year. That shortfall was covered by the city through special federal and provincial government funding transfers.
Last month, the tunnel operators announced a year-to-date deficit of $2.4 million for the January to April quarterly period. No announcement has been made yet as to whether the senior governments will step in again this year with more assistance. In a letter earlier this month to federal cabinet ministers, Mayor Drew Dilkens, seeking urgent financial help, cited projections showing the tunnel could be facing a $7-million deficit for 2021.
Tunnel operators are ready for the resumption of non-essential border traffic but aren't expecting a surge in numbers.
“A defining factor will be the test folks have to take before they arrive at the border,” said Brown, referring to a requirement that Americans wanting to visit Canada must show proof of a recent negative COVID -19 test. A number of travellers will also be randomly selected at the border and be given a rapid test by health officials stationed at land border entry points, including at the tunnel's Windsor plaza.
“If we get inundated with traffic, I'd be more than happy,” said Brown, who expects many of the initial discretionary travellers will be those reconnecting with family or checking on vacation cottages and other property.
There's still no word on when Canadian non-essential travel will be permitted into the U.S. at land border crossings.
Travellers coming from the U.S. side are no longer permitted to use cash to pay the crossing toll. The Canadian side will similarly go cashless by the end of 2021, with tolls after that to be paid by swiping or tapping debit or credit cards.
To save some dollars each trip, the tunnel's operator is encouraging motorists to enrol in its Nexpress program, which Brown describes as simple to use and “the most economical” way to cross the border. Using a credit card to register online, users deposit a sum (currently $100 minimum, but with plans to lower that) that doesn't expire and from which each border crossing toll is deducted.
The Nexpress toll will remain the same US$3.95 for those drawing from American funds, while the current Cnd$3.95 toll per crossing rises to Cnd$5.15 on Aug. 9 — a 30-per-cent hike but still a 21 per cent discount over the cash toll.