Gordie Howe Bridge (US-Canada)

[oscar]

The new $20 note (supposedly coming in 2027 and featuring King Charles instead of Queen Elizabeth)

It really should be a Native figure or anyone but a foreign leader.

I got a quarter in circulation with King Charles' face on it. That ship might've already sailed.

[LilianaUwU]

The new $20 note (supposedly coming in 2027 and featuring King Charles instead of Queen Elizabeth)

It really should be a Native figure or anyone but a foreign leader.

I got a quarter in circulation with King Charles' face on it. That ship might've already sailed.

First coin in full 3D, by the way, to accomodate Charles' ears.

[thenetwork]

Back to the Gordie...

Have they announced what the toll will be for your average passenger car yet?  And how does it compare to the other Detroit (and Port Huron) crossings?

[JREwing78]

Back to the Gordie...

Have they announced what the toll will be for your average passenger car yet?  And how does it compare to the other Detroit (and Port Huron) crossings?

There's no reason to suspect that it would be significantly more expensive than the Ambassador Bridge or Detroit Tunnel, which are $9 and $8.25, respectively, for a private automobile crossing.

The Canadians have a strong interest in diverting cross-border traffic out of Windsor - it's a major reason for the Gordie Howe bridge's existence to begin with. They also need the volume to start paying down the bonds on the new bridge.

What *could* happen is the Ambassador's owners discounting their border crossing fares. That obviously cuts into already waning income, but they have room to discount to try to preserve their fueling business and duty-free store profits.

[wanderer2575]

Back to the Gordie...

Have they announced what the toll will be for your average passenger car yet?  And how does it compare to the other Detroit (and Port Huron) crossings?

There's no reason to suspect that it would be significantly more expensive than the Ambassador Bridge or Detroit Tunnel, which are $9 and $8.25, respectively, for a private automobile crossing.

The Canadians have a strong interest in diverting cross-border traffic out of Windsor - it's a major reason for the Gordie Howe bridge's existence to begin with. They also need the volume to start paying down the bonds on the new bridge.

What *could* happen is the Ambassador's owners discounting their border crossing fares. That obviously cuts into already waning income, but they have room to discount to try to preserve their fueling business and duty-free store profits.

I think a big part of all this will be based on the usage statistics.  I think frequent users to/from the immediate Windsor area (e.g. commuters) would be more likely to go with whichever is the least expensive option.  But I think that a whole lotta infrequent users, especially to/from points east of Windsor, would gladly pay not only the Ambassador's current rate but also an additional premium for the convenience of the direct freeway-to-freeway connection.  With those folks, discounting their current fare would only hurt the Ambassador's owners.

(I'm not suggesting a higher toll on the Gordie Howe as much as I'm suggesting that lowering the toll on the Ambassador might not do much to preserve its usage counts.)

[Papa Emeritus]

Back to the Gordie...

Have they announced what the toll will be for your average passenger car yet?  And how does it compare to the other Detroit (and Port Huron) crossings?

There's no reason to suspect that it would be significantly more expensive than the Ambassador Bridge or Detroit Tunnel, which are $9 and $8.25, respectively, for a private automobile crossing.

The Canadians have a strong interest in diverting cross-border traffic out of Windsor - it's a major reason for the Gordie Howe bridge's existence to begin with. They also need the volume to start paying down the bonds on the new bridge.

What *could* happen is the Ambassador's owners discounting their border crossing fares. That obviously cuts into already waning income, but they have room to discount to try to preserve their fueling business and duty-free store profits.

I think a big part of all this will be based on the usage statistics.  I think frequent users to/from the immediate Windsor area (e.g. commuters) would be more likely to go with whichever is the least expensive option.  But I think that a whole lotta infrequent users, especially to/from points east of Windsor, would gladly pay not only the Ambassador's current rate but also an additional premium for the convenience of the direct freeway-to-freeway connection.  With those folks, discounting their current fare would only hurt the Ambassador's owners.

(I'm not suggesting a higher toll on the Gordie Howe as much as I'm suggesting that lowering the toll on the Ambassador might not do much to preserve its usage counts.)

I think long distance truckers are the group of people most likely to favor the Gordie Howe. Even if the toll is $5 more for a semi, many drivers would gladly pay it if it enables them to bypass Windsor and get, say, from Toyota's factories in Kentucky to their factories in Cambridge, Ontario 15 minutes faster.

The group of people least likely to switch from the Ambassador to the Howe are people in Ontario taking flights out of DTW. From the US end of the Ambassador, it's easy to go up 75/96 to 94, then take 94 west to DTW. The route from the US end of the Howe to DTW is more complex. Although Windsor is a nice airport (its airport code is YQG, and the airport's slogan, based on the code, is "Your Quick Getaway"), it has so few flights that you'll see a LOT of cars with Ontario plates parked at DTW.