U.S. Wants Detroit-Windsor Ferry Service

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Originally Posted by DetroitPlanner

The feds are kicking in 80 percent of the capital costs to get this started. Would they be doing that if they were not sold on the project?

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Which feds? The ones that supply the money may not be the ones who have to secure and inspect the passengers. I could think of half a dozen fed agencies that have to come on board and sign off on this.

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Originally Posted by DetroitPlanner

An aside, I actually saw those ferries coming down the Detroit River on their way to be delivered! I had to do a double take. "What the heck.... that looks like the Staten Island Ferry! It is, it is, the Staten Island Ferry!"

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Very interesting DetroitPlanner! That would have been a cool sight to see. Thanks for sharing the story. I do remember that the three new ferries were built in Wisconsin, so it makes sense that they would come through Detroit.

Having ferries again would be so nice. It is like adding a whole new sections to both downtown Detroit and Windsor with a pleasant river ride thrown in.

Better yet the whole process is pedestrian. No need to breath fumes in the tunnel in stalled traffic as your only option.

Right now our downtowns and their most beautiful asset, the riverfront, are commercial dead ends. A prime example is the moribund Wintergarden in RenCen. It like all businesses there suffers primarily from pedestrian inaccessibility.

A ferry changes that extending the walkable, bikeable urban cores immensely. Want to bike out to Walkerville for lunch? No problem. Want to cross to Detroit to shop at RenCen? No big deal.

Many years ago when I was in the US military in Germany I would ride the train. I remember that the there were occasions where passports and paperwork was checked on the train. A ferry could be set up so that the checking is done on the ferry while traveling instead of having people wait in line on land.

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Originally Posted by LivedInWarren

Many years ago when I was in the US military in Germany I would ride the train. I remember that the there were occasions where passports and paperwork was checked on the train. A ferry could be set up so that the checking is done on the ferry while traveling instead of having people wait in line on land.

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Yes, on the TGV from Paris to Lausanne, the Swiss border guys would board the train on the last stop in France. They would go through the train checking passports and asking for customs declarations. When you got to Lausanne you just got off the train.

We do that here in the US as well. There are US customs and immigration folks at the airports in Bermuda and the Bahamas. You clear them at that point and then the planes can fly into any airport in he US without using "international terminals".

When I posted earlier that I didn't really see the need for this, I didn't think of the benefit for tunnel bus riders avoiding the backups in the tunnel. It would be nice if they could somehow schedule hours so that the number of bus runs could be reduced. I can see some convention visitors and tourists [[let's face it most tourists are people here for a couple of ball games) wanting to visit Windsor. The issue is whether or not these American visitors would know about it in advance and be carrying their passports.

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Originally Posted by Detroitnerd

Ferries aren't perfect, though. They are a relatively pollution-heavy form of travel due to the specs on marine engines. Maybe the EPA can kick in on pollution controls...

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Depends on the ferry. Smaller, slower ferries [[~100 people) only use a few gallons of diesel per hour of running time - very efficient on a per-passenger basis. The larger, high speed ferries are much less efficient. I don't think you'd need to carry more than 100, though, and the slowest ferry could probably make the crossing in around ten minutes.

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Originally Posted by DetroitPlanner

NYC Still has ferries.

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Did I say they didn't...? No, I live in New York City and am well aware of the ferries. I was using it as an example of the little things that come first.

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Originally Posted by JBMcB

Depends on the ferry. Smaller, slower ferries [[~100 people) only use a few gallons of diesel per hour of running time - very efficient on a per-passenger basis. The larger, high speed ferries are much less efficient. I don't think you'd need to carry more than 100, though, and the slowest ferry could probably make the crossing in around ten minutes.

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Thanks for the clarification, JBMcB.

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Originally Posted by Hermod

Which feds? The ones that supply the money may not be the ones who have to secure and inspect the passengers. I could think of half a dozen fed agencies that have to come on board and sign off on this.

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DOT / FTA is the agency

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Originally Posted by 401don

When I posted earlier that I didn't really see the need for this, I didn't think of the benefit for tunnel bus riders avoiding the backups in the tunnel. It would be nice if they could somehow schedule hours so that the number of bus runs could be reduced. I can see some convention visitors and tourists [[let's face it most tourists are people here for a couple of ball games) wanting to visit Windsor. The issue is whether or not these American visitors would know about it in advance and be carrying their passports.

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The few times I've used the tunnel bus it was smooth sailing. It gets an express use of the entrance and exit. Of course there is still a customs/immigration interrogation, but its not as severe as driving. The buses are pretty full by the time they cross with about 20 percent getting on next to the ren cen. These folks are workers who live in Windsor. I suppose you get a few in reverse as well.

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Originally Posted by Hermod

Yes, on the TGV from Paris to Lausanne, the Swiss border guys would board the train on the last stop in France. They would go through the train checking passports and asking for customs declarations. When you got to Lausanne you just got off the train.

We do that here in the US as well. There are US customs and immigration folks at the airports in Bermuda and the Bahamas. You clear them at that point and then the planes can fly into any airport in he US without using "international terminals".

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Canada already does this at several airports, including Toronto Pearson... [[from http://torontopearson.com/Departing_to_usa.aspx#

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U.S. bound flights: Please arrive early with your travel documents ready.
For the majority of U.S. flights, guests leaving Toronto will go through U.S. Customs in Toronto, which allows you to arrive in the United States as a domestic passenger.

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